Sickle cell disease (SCD), or sickle cell anemia, is a major genetic chronic disease with numerous complications that affects most countries in Africa.

In sickle cell disease, the normal round shape of red blood cells becomes like crescent moons. Round red blood cells can move easily through the blood vessels but sickled shaped cells interconnect and can result in blood clots. These blood clots can cause extreme pain in the back, chest, hands and feet and increase the risk of infection. The disrupted blood flow can also cause damage to bones, muscles and organs. People with sickle cell disease often feel weak and tired.

According to the World Health Organization, over 7 million people suffer from sickle cell disease worldwide. 80% of them live in sub-saharan Africa. In African countries with limited resources, around half of all children suffering from the disease will die before the age of five, usually from an infection or severe blood loss. This mortality rate is much higher than that of sickle-cell-affected children living in Europe or the USA, where over 90% reach adulthood.

Treatments do exist, and certain preventive measures are relatively simple and applicable in most countries. These consist of hygienic-dietetic measures and so-called primary care, based mainly on infection prevention (long-term penicillin therapy, vaccination program, prevention of malaria and parasitic infections) and anemia (folic acid). Other early and simple measures contribute to reducing morbidity and mortality, such as rapid pain management and early identification of potentially fatal complications such as fever and severe anemia. Over the past 20 years, in Western countries, hydroxyurea has transformed the prognosis of sickle cell disease by reducing the frequency and severity of painful attacks and other complications, in particular neurological vascular risk; it also extends patients' life expectancy.

MSF take care of patients with sickle cell in several pediatric wards of its projects in the African Region such as Niger, Nigeria, South Sudan or Chad. In some countries, dedicated projects have been opened to provide specific care and follow-up to these patients, such as Central African Republic, Kenya and Uganda.