150,000 cases of babies born with Sickle Cell Disease yearly in Nigeria

About 400,000 babies are born every year with Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) globally with over 300,000 born in sub-Saharan Africa. While Nigeria alone has 150,000 SCD newborns yearly, the scourge is expected to rise by 2050.

Meanwhile, early diagnosis, a comprehensive care model and ongoing research focused on affordability and accessibility are crucial for improving the lives of individuals living with SCD in Africa.

Associate Professor of Medicine and Global Health Equity at Harvard Medical School (HMS) and Clinical Director of Haematology at Harvard’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH), Maureen Achebe, who stated this at a public lecture organised by the Centre of Excellence for Sickle cell Disease Research and Training (CESRT), in conjunction with the College of Health Sciences, University of Abuja, observed that “the disease significantly impacts African populations”, adding that persons with SCD were at risk of severe chronic complications, reduced quality of life, reduced career progression and financial status as well as premature death.

Achebe noted that without early identification and intervention, infants would continue to die of undiagnosed anaemia, pneumococcal sepsis or severe malaria.

She emphasised the need for a holistic care programme in Nigeria to ensure reduction in hospital admission, transfusion requirements and mortality from 20.6 per cent to 0.6 per cent.

The don noted the average life expectancy in high-income countries as 57 years, and in the United States, over 95 per cent of children reach adulthood while in Sub-Saharan Africa, under-five mortality is 50 to 80 per cent.

She said: “The average life expectancy of a patient with SCD in high-income countries is 57 years. A baby who is born in the U.S., for instance, with SCD has a 95 per cent chance of reaching adulthood. In sub-Saharan Africa, 15 to 80 per cent of babies born with SCD will die before their fifth year of life. This discrepancy shows that significant mortality in sub-Saharan Africa is preventable.”

Overcoming the challenges associated with SCD management, Achebe added, requires addressing resource limitations affordability issues and cultural barriers.

She noted that the 63rd session of the UN Assembly in 2008 recognised SCD as a public health problem and declared June 19 SCD Awareness Day, adding that SCD is recognised as an area requiring focus to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Public Health Importance of SCD in Sub-Saharan Africa.

According to her, reducing the SCD burden will require substantial financial and political commitment, which will impact the lives of millions of patients and families worldwide, and the lessons learned in achieving this goal would unarguably benefit the society. She predicted that the total cost of the disease across Sub-Saharan Africa was expected to rise from $9.1 billion yearly to $10.2 billion by 2030.

The daughter of renowned novelist, Chinua Achebe, tasked the Federal Government to prioritise newborn screening to ensure early detection and intervention for SCD.

On her part, the Acting Vice-Chancellor of the University of Abuja, Prof Patricia Lar, emphasised voluntary premarital screening as a crucial step in preventing the scourge.

Represented by the Provost, College of Health Sciences, Prof Titus Ibekwe, the VC highlighted the importance of awareness and education on premarital screening.