As part of efforts to improve diagnosis and accelerate the treatment of sickle cell disease, the government has officially announced the availability of the ‘hydroxyurea’ medicine in the country. This follows a ‘Memorandum of Understanding’ signed between stakeholders in Ghana and ‘Novartis’ in January this year.
The agreement will see ‘Norvatis’ supply the medicine to manage the sickle cell disease. Speaking at the launch, Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia said the collaboration will go a long way to ease the pain and improve the lives of people with the disease.
Sickle Cell Disease is the most serious and commonly inherited blood disease of humans, characterized by chronic anaemia, recurring attacks of severe pain and other complications related to blockage of blood flow. In Ghana, it estimated that about 15 thousand babies are born with sickle cell disease every year.
It is for this reason that the government has entered into a public-private partnership with the global medicines company, ‘Novartis’ to make available, hydroxyurea to help sickle cell patients. This makes Ghana, the first African country to commit to offering the global standard of care for people with the disease. Vice President Bawumia announced that the ‘hydroxyurea’ medication will be made available under the National Health Insurance Scheme to ensure easy accessibility.
The Chief Executive Officer of Novartis, Dr.Vasant Narasimhan pledged the company’s support to help improve healthcare delivery in the country. He explained other packages that comes with the partnership.
Some survivors of the sickle cell disease shared their experiences with Radio Ghana.
So far, more than 20 thousand doses of ‘hydroxyurea’ have been delivered to Ghana. This is expected to increase to 60 thousand by the end of the year.
