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 detection critical to reducing preventable deaths.

Speaking at an event to mark the 30th anniversary of newborn screening in Ghana, Prof. Odame stressed that screening must be expanded to reach more babies across the country.

"One, we know that one in every 50 babies born in Ghana has sickle cell disease, and we do know that if you detect them early and you do simple interventions, almost all of them will survive to become adults," he said.

He warned that children who are not screened and diagnosed early face a significantly higher risk of dying before their fifth birthday.

"If you don't screen them or test them, more than half of them will die before the age of five years," he cautioned.

Prof. Odame described newborn screening as a life-saving intervention but expressed concern that only a few health facilities in Ghana currently offer the service.

He also pointed to the funding challenges facing existing programmes, saying their operations depended heavily on support from donors.

"This screening is a life-saving intervention, but as we speak in Ghana, only a few centres do the screening, and even where it is being done, it is dependent on donor funding," he said.

His comments have renewed calls for the government and health authorities to make newborn screening more widely available and ensure sustainable funding for early diagnosis and treatment.

A haematology nurse specialist at Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Diana Baidoo, also raised concerns about the number of babies testing positive for sickle cell disease through the hospital's screening programme.

She disclosed that about 1.8 per cent of babies tested so far had been found to have the condition, a figure she said was consistent with previous findings.

"So far, we've estimated that 1.8 per cent of all the babies that we have tested have tested positive, and that is in line with what we've had," she said.

Although she could not provide the exact number of babies screened, she explained that the findings meant approximately two out of every 100 babies tested had the disease.

"I'll not be able to give you the actual numbers, but every two out of every 100 babies that we've tested have tested positive," she added.

The nurse specialist warned that delayed diagnosis could expose affected children to serious health complications, including stroke and infections, which could eventually lead to death.

She said the importance of identifying babies with the condition early so they could receive the necessary medical attention before complications develop.

"Complications, if the child is delayed in being identified as having the disease, they can have complications such as stroke, they can have infections, and ultimately they can die," she said.