By; Peter Ssebulime

Findings from a Ministry of health (MOH) have revealed an increase in babies born annually with the Sickle Cell disease who die before clocking 5 years.

The report shows that among the 20,000 to 25,000 babies born with the disease annually, many of them ranging from 17,000 to 20,000 die before reaching 5 years.

While releasing the report in Kampala, the National Coordinator of Sickle Cell Disease Programs in MOH, Charles Kiyaga says that the national survey that was conducted indicates that the current total number of Sickle cell survivors is between 200,000 and 300,000.

He adds that out of the sicklers, 3,000 to 4,000 children die of sickle cells annually.

Sickle-cell disease (SCD) is a group of blood disorders typically inherited from a person’s parents. The most common type is known as sickle-cell anemia (SCA).

In the same vein, Kiyaga urged government to allocate enough money that could help them to carry out further studies on the disease and acknowledged the Buganda Kingdom for its program intended for fundraising money towards this cause through the annual Kabaka’s birthday run.


Thursday 1st March 2018 05:55:15 AM