Sickle Cell Awareness Month

Focuses on improving long-term management, reducing complications, and increasing awareness of this inherited blood disorder that disproportionately affects people of African descent, including a high burden in Nigeria.

Key Priorities

• Promoting premarital and newborn genotype screening.
• Ensuring reliable access to hydroxyurea and pain management.
• Educating schools and communities on crisis prevention and management.
• Advocating for bone marrow transplant and advanced therapies.

Key Concepts

• Hemoglobin S.
• Vaso-occlusive crises.
• Chronic organ damage.
• Hydroxyurea.
• Gene therapy.