Time to Invest in Sickle Cell Anemia as a Global Health Priority
Abbreviations: MDG Millennium Development Goal NBS newborn screening NCD noncommunicable disease POC point of care SCA sickle cell anemia SDG Sustainable Development Goal More than 500 children with sickle cell anemia (SCA) die every single day because of lack of access to early diagnosis and associated treatment, yet SCA remains an invisible global health problem. Over the last several decades, unprecedented improvements in the survival of children across the world have been accomplished through strategic collaboration among global health leaders and funding agencies by targeting specific preventable and treatable conditions associated with high early mortality.1 The Millennium Development Goal (MDG) program has been remarkable, and through MDG 4, the number of deaths in children <5 years of age has declined from 12.7 million in 1990 to nearly 6 million in 2015. Despite the historical and paradigm shifting successes of the MDG program, much work remains to be done. Although the MDG era has resulted in many global health improvements, the progress has been somewhat uneven because global health funding has largely focused on a small number of infectious diseases, such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, polio, and malaria.2 The successful efforts in these areas have demonstrated that focused and goal oriented global health strategies can result in dramatic improvements from a baseline situation that may appear dire. As we transition from the MDGs to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) we must learn from the successes of the MDG era while focusing on diversification of the global health agenda beyond just a few specific health conditions. With the transition to the SDGs, noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) have risen to the forefront of the global health agenda. In an effort to include children in the global NCD initiative, the American Academy of Pediatrics has become a leader in NCD Child, a global alliance focused on NCDs in children and adolescents. The NCD Child Initiative importantly recognizes the necessity of including children in the NCD discussion, but, as is Address correspondence to Patrick T. McGann, MD, MS, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, 3333 Burnet Ave, Cincinnati, OH 45229. E mail: patrick.mcgann{at}cchmc.org
Pediatrics