Health officials in Tanzania have expressed concern about the increasing number of children born with sickle cell disease.
During a session at the National Assembly in Dodoma, Deputy Minister for Health Godwin Mollel revealed that regions that are susceptible to malaria have the highest prevalence of the genetic disease in Tanzania.
Mollel identified Dar es Salaam, Coast, Mwanza, Tabora, Kigoma, and Mara as the regions with the highest incidence of malaria, mentioning that approximately 11,000 children are born with sickle cell disease each year in Tanzania.
According to Mollel, Tanzania is ranked fifth globally in terms of the highest rates of sickle cell disease, trailing behind Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, India, and Angola.
The Ministry of Health has been promoting pre-marital sickle cell testing for engaged couples, and the government has initiated a campaign to test every newborn for the disease in order to determine its prevalence.
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