CITATION: Lancet Child and Adolescent Health, Volume 10, Issue 6 p438-447 June 2026 Open access
Prevalence estimates of sickle cell disease among children and adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review and modelling analysis
Davies Adeloye et al.
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanchi/article/PIIS2352-4642(26)00048-9/fulltext
SUMMARY
Background: There is a scarcity of data reporting on the burden of sickle cell disease across many African settings, particularly among children, who have the highest risk of preventable morbidity and mortality in the absence of early diagnosis and care. We aimed to estimate the prevalence of sickle cell disease and the absolute number of paediatric cases in sub-Saharan Africa to inform policy and service responses.
Methods: For this systematic review and modelling analysis, we searched MEDLINE, Embase, Global Health (CABI), and African Journals Online (AJOL) for studies published from Jan 1, 2000, to Sept 10, 2025...
Findings: 40 studies contributed 71 prevalence datapoints from 22 countries across all four subregions of sub-Saharan Africa...
Interpretation: Despite data gaps in many countries, the burden of sickle cell disease, especially in west and central Africa, underscores the urgent need to scale up newborn and early childhood screening, prophylaxis, vaccination, and comprehensive care within child health platforms, alongside strengthened surveillance to close evidence gaps and guide sustainable policy reforms.
COMMENT (NPW): The WHO guidelines we announced 2 weeks ago are timely. https://www.hifa.org/dgroups-rss/who-guideline-management-sickle-cell-di...
I am moved by the observation by Wilson Were (WHO) that 'In parts of sub-Saharan Africa, 50–90% of children with SCD still die before their fifth birthday, often without ever being diagnosed'.
He says 'The next chapter is implementation.' Yes, this is almost always the hardest part: getting guidelines into policy and practice.
CHIFA could make a contribution here. On HIFA (our sister forum) we launched an initiative last week called HIFA Spotlights. For a small sponsorship (£500 or $650) we could run a CHIFA Spotlight on sickle cell disease. For more details see our news item here: https://www.hifa.org/news/new-initiative-hifa-spotlights
Best wishes, Neil
HIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is coordinator of HIFA (Healthcare Information For All), a global health community that brings all stakeholders together around the shared goal of universal access to reliable healthcare information. HIFA has 20,000 members in 180 countries, interacting in four languages and representing all parts of the global evidence ecosystem. HIFA is administered by Global Healthcare Information Network, a UK-based nonprofit in official relations with the World Health Organization. Email: neil@hifa.org