Background Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a neglected burden of growing importance. >312,000 births are affected annually by sickle cell anaemia (SCA). Early interventions such as newborn screening, penicillin prophylaxis and hydroxyurea can substantially reduce the mortality and morbidity associated with SCD. Nevertheless, their implementation in African countries has been mostly limited to pilot projects. Recent development of low-cost point-of-care testing (POCT) devices for sickle haemoglobin (HbS) could greatly facilitate the diagnosis of those affected. Methods We conducted the first multi-centre, real-world assessment of a low-cost POCT device, HemoTypeSC, in a low-income country. Between September and November 2017, we screened 1121 babies using both HemoTypeSC and HPLC and confirmed discordant samples by molecular diagnosis. Findings We found that, in optimal field conditions, the sensitivity and specificity of the test for SCA were 93.4% and 99.9%, respectively. All 14 carriers of haemoglobin C were successfully identified. Our study reveals an overall accuracy of 99.1%, but also highlights the importance of rigorous data collection, staff training and accurate confirmatory testing. It suggests that HPLC results might not be as reliable in a resource-poor setting as usually considered. Interpretation The use of such a POCT device can be scaled up and routinely used across multiple healthcare centres in sub-Saharan Africa, which would offer great potential for the identification and management of vast numbers of individuals affected by SCD who are currently undiagnosed. Funding US Imperial College London's Wellcome Trust Centre for Global Health Research (grant #WMNP P43370).

Current efforts of Nigerian public hospitals to provide safe blood and CTT fall short of best practice. Provision of apheresis machines, improvement of voluntary non-remunerated donor drive, screening for red cell antigens and antibodies, and availability of iron chelators would significantly improve SCD care in Nigeria.

Background: Sickle cell disease (SCD) is an inherited abnormality of the red blood cell characterized by chronic haemolytic anemia with numerous clinical consequences.Aims and Objectives: The objective of this study is to assess the level of awareness, knowledge and attitude to people living with SCD among undergraduate students of a tertiary educational institution in Abakaliki, South eastern, Nigeria.Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out was carried out, and participants were selected using multistage sampling technique. Data was collected using a pre-tested, self-administered questionnaire  and analyzed using SPSS software, version 20.Results: A total of 329 participants were studied, made up of 158 (48%) males and 171 (52%) females. Mean age of the participants was 22.3± 2.7years. All the participants (100%) were aware of the existence of SCD with lectures (35%) and health workers (19.1%) being the most common sources of information. One hundred and ninety one (58.1%) participants showed adequate knowledge about SCD but many of them showed some misconceptions. This study also found that majority of the participants, 291 (88.4%) have positive attitude towards people living with SCD.  Majority of those who have adequate knowledge about SCD showed positive attitude while the reverse is the case for those who have inadequate knowledge.Conclusion: This study found knowledge gaps about SCD among the participants. Health education should be intensified to impact sufficient comprehensive knowledge about SCD to enable the students take informed decision about their marriage so as to prevent procreation of children affected with SCD.Asian Journal of Medical Sciences Vol.7(5) 2016 87-92

Background Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a major genetic disease that manifests early in life and may lead to significant morbidities. One of the health care services that have been effective in reducing the burden of SCD in developed countries is newborn screening (NBS) followed by pneumococcal vaccines, penicillin prophylaxis, and hydroxyurea treatment. Yet, in sub-Saharan African countries, where about 75% of annual affected babies worldwide are born, NBS programmes are largely unavailable. It is not clear whether this is due to technical challenges associated with setting up such programmes, or significant cultural and social barriers to its acceptance in such settings. Objective Our aim was to ascertain the attitudes to and acceptability of NBS in Nigeria among various sociodemographic groups including health professionals, undergraduate students, parents of children with SCD and SCD patients.

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