Health experts push for nationwide newborn screening as Ghana marks 30 years of sickle cell detection
Health experts are calling for expanded newborn screening for sickle cell disease in Ghana, warning that more than half of affected children could die before the age of five if they are not diagnosed early and given appropriate care. This comes as Ghana marks 30 years of newborn screening for sickle cell disease, with experts raising concerns about limited access to testing and the country’s reliance on donor funding to sustain screening programmes. Head of Haematology at the Hospital for Sick Children and the University of Toronto’s Centre for Global Child Health, Professor Isaac Odame, said early diagnosis and simple medical interventions could save almost all babies born with the condition. He estimated that one in every 50 babies born in Ghana has sickle cell disease, making early det…