DAR ES SALAAM: Tanzanian health authorities on Wednesday raised concern over rising cases of children born with sickle cell disease.
Deputy Minister for Health Godwin Mollel told the National Assembly in Dodoma, the capital of Tanzania, that new data showed that regions prone to malaria have the highest cases of the genetic disease in the country.
Mollel named the regions with high prevalence of malaria as Dar es Salaam, Coast, Mwanza, Tabora, Kigoma, and Mara, adding that an estimated 11,000 children are born with sickle cell disease each year in Tanzania.
He said Tanzania ranks fifth in the world for the highest rates of the disease, behind Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, India, and Angola, said Xinhua.
Mollel said the ministry has been encouraging engaged couples to test for sickle cell before marrying, adding that the government has embarked on a campaign aimed at testing every newborn child for sickle cell in an effort to establish the magnitude of the disease. -Bernama
