Gov’t partners Novartis to tackle sickle cell disease

The Government of Ghana and  global medicines company Novartis, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to create a new public-private partnership to improve the diagnoses of sickle cell disease (SCD) in the country.

The partnership enjoins Ghana through the Ministry of Health, Ghana Health Service and other allied agencies, to designed to improve the diagnoses and accelerate treatment for people with the disease.

The move, according to a statement from the Health Ministry, makes Ghana “the first African country to commit to offering the global standard of care for people with sickle cell disease.”

The  partnership also aims at improving and extending the lives of people with SCD through a comprehensive approach to screening and diagnosis; treatment and disease management; training and education; and elevating basic and clinical research and scientific capabilities.

Specifically, the partners will collaborate on field testing and implementation of SCD treatment guidelines, the establishment of centres of excellence across regions and the implementation of new born screening at these centres, the statement added.

The Minister for Health, Kwaku Agyemang-Manu, who signed the agreement on behalf of Ghana expressed the commitment of government to addressing sickle cell disease in Ghana.

He also called on the public, like-minded partners from the private and public sector to join in the fight against Sickle Cell Disease.

 

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