According to the Commission, reducing the burden of SCD requires substantial financial and political commitment to improving data-collection, diagnosis, treatment and training, and doing so will positively impact the lives of millions of patients and families worldwide.
The costs required to reduce the risk of sickle cell disease is beyond the reach of most individuals in India and sub-Saharan Africa, where the disease is most prevalent, says a new Commission published in The Lancet Haematology journal.
The Commission publishes shortly after a recent study in the same journal found that the highest burden of sickle cell disease (SCD) disability was concentrated in western and central sub-Saharan Africa and India.
The authors of the Commission also noted that there is a shortage of healthcare and scientific professionals with expertise in SCD, as well as a lack of trials aimed at developing novel treatments in these countries.SCD is a group of inherited red blood cell disorders that affect hemoglobin, the protein that carries oxygen through the body. The condition affects more than 20 million people worldwide.The recent study suggested there were 376,000 (3.76 lakh) global SCD-related deaths in 2021, compared to 34,400 cause-specific deaths.
“Whereas the majority of major causes of death are decreasing, the number of deaths due to sickle cell disease is increasing globally,” said chair of the Commission, Frederic Piel from Imperial College London. UK.
According to the Commission, reducing the burden of SCD requires substantial financial and political commitment to improving data-collection, diagnosis, treatment and training, and doing so will positively impact the lives of millions of patients and families worldwide.
