Africa-Press – Tanzania. MUHIMBILI University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS) has come up with new measures aimed at intensifying its campaign to reduce the spiralling cases of children born with sickle cell anaemia in the country.
Speaking to the ‘Daily News’ over the weekend, MUHAS Sickle Cell Programme Project Coordinator, Dr Agnes Jonathan said the new measures including newborn screening and the Break the Sickle Cycle campaign.
In Tanzania, approximately 11,000 babies are born with Sickle Cell Anaemia (SCD) each year, ranking fifth in the world after Nigeria, DRC, India and Angola. Over 75 per cent of people with the disease live in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Dr Jonathan said in Tanzania, SCD is a major contributor to under-five mortality and is estimated to account for seven per cent of all-cause mortality in this age group.
“We are still high in numbers so we are trying to break the circle there are various campaigns to reduce this number the recent project launched newborn screening is the practice of testing babies right after delivery to ascertain whether they have diseases that are potentially fatal if not treated early,” she explained
According to her the five-year project funded by the US government will be conducted in Dar es Salaam at Amana, Temeke and Bugando hospitals in Mwanza respectively.
She said once the babies are diagnosed with the disease, they will immediately be enrolled in various clinics in Dar es Salaam, Katavi, Bagamoyo, Zanzibar and Mwanza so that they can get the care they deserve.
Dr Jonathan further said they will be given the necessary medications to reduce the severity of SCD challenges, where parents are advised to screen other relatives, especially those born of the same womb, nutrition and how to live with affected children.
According to Wikipedia SCD is a group of blood disorders typically inherited from a person’s parents. The most common type is known as sickle cell anaemia (SCA), which results in an abnormality in the oxygen-carrying protein haemoglobin found in red blood cells.
She said SCD symptoms can include anaemia that can make a child pale and tired, yellowing of the skin, eyes, and mouth and pain episodes in organs and joints.
The public health expert further said another campaign that they have dubbed break the Sickle Cycle for secondary schools and universities that will lead to the prevention of SCD.
“We decided to launch the campaign to raise awareness to younger people to get proper knowledge on SCD. This age group is crucial as they will get to understand the importance to go for a genetic test before entering into a relationship,” Dr Jonathan said at the ongoing 45th Dar es Salaam International Trade Fair (DITF) exhibitions.
From the year 2015 to 2016, MUHAS run a newborn screening program for SCD; funded by UKAid through the Human Development Innovation Fund (HDIF).
Through a technique known as isoelectric focusing (IEF), 4,002 newborns were screened at Muhimbili National Hospital (MNH) and Temeke District Hospital.
Findings showed that 31 children, (0.8 per cent) with SCD (SS), 504 (12.6 per cent) with sickle cell trait (AS) as well as 27 with other blood disorders (0.7 per cent), and 3,440(85.9 per cent) were SCD negative (AA).
