According to the World Health Organization (WHO), approximately 1000 children are born with sickle cell disease every day in Africa.The organization reports that it is the most prevalent genetically-acquired disease in the region and more than half of the children are likely to die before they reach the age of five as a result of an infection or severe anemia.Sickle cell disease is a severe hereditary blood disorder that shortens the red blood cell survival, causing anemia-often referred to as sickle cell anemia.Data from the Ministry of Health (MOH) in Kenya shows that about 14,000 children are born with sickle cell disease each year.WHO associates the burden of sickle cell in Africa to low investment in the efforts to combat the disease saying that many public health facilities in the region, especially lower-level facilities, lack the services for prevention, early detection and care for sickle cell disease.Moreover, there are communities that have little or zero knowledge of the sickle cell cond ition and continue to associate the disease with witchcraft.In order to address the challenges faced by persons living with sickle cell, the Ministry of Health (MOH) in partnership with the Non-Communicable Diseases Alliance of Kenya (NCDAK) and the Academic Model Providing Access to Healthcare (AMPATH) is implementing different programmes in 17 sickle cell endemic counties, including Kisii.Speaking during the World Sickle Cell Day celebrations held at Kisii National Polytechnic on the outskirts of Kisii town, NCDAK Executive Director Dr. Catherine Karekezi said they are running a programme focused on newborn screening to find out if the children are carriers or have sickle cell disease.According to the World Health Organization (WHO), approximately 1000 children are born with sickle cell disease every day in Africa.The organization reports that it is the most prevalent genetically-acquired disease in the region and more than half of the children are likely to die before they reach the age of five as a result of an infection or severe anemia.Sickle cell disease is a severe hereditary blood disorder that shortens the red blood cell survival, causing anemia-often referred to as sickle cell anemia.Data from the Ministry of Health (MOH) in Kenya shows that about 14,000 children are born with sickle cell disease each year.WHO associates the burden of sickle cell in Africa to low investment in the efforts to combat the disease saying that many public health facilities in the region, especially lower-level facilities, lack the services for prevention, early detection and care for sickle cell disease.Moreover, there are communities that have little or zero knowledge of the sickle cell condition and continue to associate the disease with witchcraft.In order to address the challenges faced by persons living with sickle cell, the Ministry of Health (MOH) in partnership with the Non-Communicable Diseases Alliance of Kenya (NCDAK) and the Academic Model Providing Access to Healthcare (AMPATH) is implementing different programmes in 17 sickle cell endemic counties, including Kisii.Speaking during the World Sickle Cell Day celebrations held at Kisii National Polytechnic on the outskirts of Kisii town, NCDAK Executive Director Dr. Catherine Karekezi said they are running a programme focused on newborn screening to find out if the children are carriers or have sickle cell disease.Source: Kenya News Agency