Africa shoulders the world's heaviest load of sickle cell disease. Now, the continent has real momentum to turn things around.
The Africa CDC has launched its Continental Sickle Cell Disease Plan. It aims to strengthen screening, expand treatment access, and improve care across African nations.
Livingstone Dogara is a physician-scientist and Associate Professor of Hematology at Kaduna State University. He spoke with us about the new strategy and what it means for millions of Africans.
The plan represents a watershed moment in tackling one of Africa's gravest health crises, Dogara explained. A technical working group formed in April 2025 laid the groundwork for what comes next.
"This gives us real hope," he noted. "We can actually make significant progress in how we treat and manage this disease."
Evidence from the Consortium on Newborn Screening in Africa shows the potential. CONSA screened 175,000 newborns and uncovered thousands of cases.
When clinics opened for diagnosed babies, something unexpected happened. "We started with eight screening clinics," Dogara told us.
"Now we have over 20, plus five community-level care clinics."
Patients without prior access flooded in. "The clinics got overrun by people living with sickle cell who had nowhere else to go," he said.
This tells us the programme works and can be scaled up across Africa. What started as a pilot now looks like a routine service that saves lives.
But gaps remain. Geographic distance is a massive problem in rural areas.
Most care facilities sit in tertiary teaching hospitals. These institutions are far removed from villages and remote communities where patients live.
Hospital registries capture only a fraction of actual cases. In Kaduna State, roughly 4,000 babies are born with sickle cell yearly.
Yet 95 to 97 percent never attend a single clinic visit, a 2009-2011 pilot study revealed. The gap between need and access remains catastrophic.
Teaching hospitals maintain large registries but these barely scratch the surface. They don't reflect the true numbers of people managing this disease daily.
Moving forward, countries must rethink where they place care. Primary healthcare facilities in villages and towns must become hubs for sickle cell management.
Training and financing present twin challenges. Africa needs more skilled workers, but resources are stretched thin.
Sustainable financing models must anchor any serious effort. Countries can't rely on donor money alone to run these programmes indefinitely.
Integration with primary healthcare systems is non-negotiable, Dogara stressed. This keeps care close to communities and reduces travel burdens on families.
Data infrastructure also requires urgent investment. Without proper registries, countries can't track outcomes or identify where help is most needed.
The continental plan shows what's possible when nations commit resources and coordinate efforts. Success depends on translating that plan into action at the ground level.
Nigeria is positioned to lead implementation efforts across West Africa. But the heavy lifting starts now, in clinics and villages where patients wait for care.
