Tanzania has opened its first bone marrow transplant centre to treat sickle cell patients.
Approximately 1,000 children are born with the disease every day in Africa, making it the most prevalent genetically-acquired disease in the region, according to WHO.
The Director of Benjamin Mkapa hospital, which houses the centre, hails it as a milestone for the country’s health sector.
Tanzania is the fourth country in the world with the highest birth prevalence of the disease after Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo and India.
The figure of children diagnosed with sickle cell aneamia is 6 per 1,000 per annum which is approximately 8,000 - 11,000 infants in a year.
On the continent, only Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, South Africa and Tunisia have begun similar treatment programmes on Sickle Cell.
The disease is caused by a faulty gene that affects how red blood cells develop and the condition can cause severe pain and organ failure.
A bone marrow transplant replaces bone marrow with healthy cells. It is also used to treat patients with leukemia or blood cancer.
