{"id":9561,"date":"2020-12-02T09:57:20","date_gmt":"2020-12-02T08:57:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fondationpierrefabre.org\/?p=9561"},"modified":"2025-02-12T19:37:21","modified_gmt":"2025-02-12T18:37:21","slug":"the-drc-introduces-a-national-plan-to-combat-sickle-cell-disease","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fondationpierrefabre.org\/en\/current-initiatives\/the-drc-introduces-a-national-plan-to-combat-sickle-cell-disease\/","title":{"rendered":"The DRC introduces a national plan to combat sickle cell disease"},"content":{"rendered":"

The DRC introduces a national plan to combat sickle cell disease<\/h1>\n<\/div>
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25\/11\/2020<\/strong><\/p>\n

The national strategic plan to combat sickle cell disease, established by DRC public authorities with support from the Fondation Pierre Fabre, was presented to major international health partners in Kinshasa last September and then officially approved in early November. Its objective is to have the disease made part of the essential health services package by 2022.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Democratic Republic of Congo Minister of Health invited the health sector\u2019s institutional, technical and financial partners to a presentation of the strategic plan to combat sickle cell disease on 8 September. The partners, most importantly the WHO, UNICEF and the Global Fund, ultimately intend to take the disease into account in the programmes they fund in the DRC.<\/p>\n

On 5 November 2020, the Ministry of Health\u2019s Services Commission approved the DRC\u2019s national strategy to combat sickle cell disease, a plan that is aligned with the National Health Development Plan, officially marking the integration of sickle cell disease treatment into the country\u2019s health system, which is the second largest in Africa, covering an area over two million square kilometres, with 516 health zones.<\/p>\n

DRC: the African country second-most affected by sickle cell disease
\n<\/strong>The DRC, with prevalence in new-borns estimated at 2%, is the African country second-most affected by the disease, after Nigeria. It is estimated that 50,000 children are born each year with sickle cell disease and that half of them die before the age of five, when early and appropriate treatment means patients can control symptoms and avoid severe seizures.<\/p>\n

The DRC\u2019s commitment is meant to dovetail and focus the efforts of all entities, stakeholders and financial partners to help improve the health of the sickle-cell population. This is an important step toward fully recognising the burden of this disease and the need to build a generalised approach to prevention and treatment.<\/p>\n

The Fondation Pierre Fabre\u2019s support for the Ministry of Health
\n<\/strong>The Fondation Pierre Fabre, working in the DRC since 2014 as part of a partnership with the Institut Europ\u00e9en de Coop\u00e9ration et de D\u00e9veloppement (IECD),<\/a> was asked by the public authorities to provide its expertise and contribute to the process of aligning the national sickle cell disease plan with the National Health Development Plan.<\/p>\n

This support takes two forms:<\/p>\n