Uganda: Nearly 20,000 babies born with sickle cell disease annually, universal screening implemented

Nearly 20,000 newborns are born with sickle cell disease each year in Uganda, where newborn screening is now mandatory across the country, reports Africanews in a piece published on October 2, 2026, at the Kayunga Referral Hospital, east of Kampala.

Sickle cell disease is an inherited blood disorder that deforms red blood cells and causes painful crises, severe anemia, and neurological complications. On the continent, many affected children die before their fifth birthday due to a lack of timely diagnosis.

A life-changing diagnosis

Africanews gathered the testimony of Irene Nalukwago, whose daughter, now 12 years old, began showing symptoms at six months. "She became paralyzed on her left side," says the mother, who had to carry her child.

This is precisely what birth screening seeks to avoid: months or years of medical uncertainty before the disease is identified. Dr. Isaac Tumusiime, a physician at Kayunga Referral Hospital, explains that all children under follow-up are placed on hydroxyurea from the age of nine months and emphasizes that a continuous supply allows for good treatment adherence.

Accessible treatment, unaffordable cure

Hydroxyurea reduces the frequency of painful crises and the need for blood transfusions. It is not a curative treatment, but it is an old, inexpensive medication that can be administered in primary care, making it the most realistic tool for an African healthcare system.

Gene therapy, meanwhile, exists and can correct the disease at its root. According to Africanews, it remains unaffordable for the vast majority of patients. This is one of the starkest imbalances in global health: sickle cell disease is overwhelmingly an African disease, yet the innovation that cures it is designed for markets where it is rare.

The Ugandan approach, which combines universal birth screening with early treatment, serves as a model for other countries on the continent. It relies on two simple yet demanding conditions: tests available in maternity wards and medication stocks that do not run out.