ArticlePLOS global public health2024
Sickle cell disease in Cameroon: Taking out the "neglect" and highlighting key opportunities for sustainable control.
Article in PLOS global public health, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- A qualitative evidence synthesis on perinatal screening for sickle cell disease in high-burden countries.BMC global and public health · 2026Pooled it
- Newborn Screening for Hemoglobinopathies and Thalassemias: Brief History, Recent Activities, and Global Status-2026.International journal of neonatal screening · 2026Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) is a serious genetic disorder with astounding regional differences in childhood survival. Alarmingly, over 90% of children with SCD in SSA die before their fifth birthday. In Cameroon, approximately 7,000 children are born with SCD annually; however, most of them go undiagnosed until their fourth birthday, resulting into untold pain and suffering. Despite this, little is known about the barriers to optimal care and treatment for SCD in Cameroon. Here, we assess these barriers, and consider opportunities that could be leveraged, for a sustainable control of SCD in Cameroon. We conducted a qualitative study, with documentary analysis of key national and international policy documents related to SCD management in Cameroon; semi-structured interviews; and focus group discussions, used for data collection. Key informants were selected purposively, and met at the central level of the health system (in Yaoundé) and the operational level (Mfou health district). These were policy makers, health workers, parents with SCD children and teenagers with SCD. Several critical gaps exist which hinder SCD control in Cameroon. These include lack of a national sickle cell disease strategy, no proportional allocation of funds for SCD in the national budget, and gaps in service delivery. These are translated into healthcare providers having little knowledge on SCD, absence of SCD-specific indicators in the health information system, challenges accessing essential medicines, and limited awareness raising in communities on SCD. Still, several opportunities exist which could be leveraged for improving SCD care in Cameroon. These include the possibility of integrating SCD screening and care into well-established primary healthcare services like vaccination, antenatal care, and non-communicable disease clinics. In the light of such limited resource settings, considering opportunities for integration in existing health programs could go a long way to reduce morbidities and mortalities from SCD over the coming years.
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.