Check sickle cell status before marriage, experts advise

DAR ES SALAAM: HEALTH experts have advised young people considering to get married to undergo sickle cell genetic testing and know their status before starting families, as part of efforts to reduce the number of children born with the inherited blood disorder.

The advice comes amid concerns that between 15 and 20 per cent of the population may carry the sickle cell gene, with many carriers unaware of their status.

Tanzania Sickle Cell Disease Alliance (TSDA) Executive Director, Dr Deogratias Soka, said knowing one’s genetic status before marriage gives couples important information that can help them make informed decisions about starting a family.

“We want our young people to get tested, know their status and make decisions based on accurate information,” he said.

Dr Soka said testing is particularly important because a person can carry the sickle cell gene without showing symptoms of the disease.

“This does not mean that all those people have sickle cell disease. They are carriers, but they can have a child with the disease if their partners also carry the gene,” he said.

He explained that when both partners carry the sickle cell gene, there is a 25 per cent probability of having a child with sickle cell disease in each pregnancy.

He said the probability applied to every pregnancy and did not mean that one out of every four children in a family would necessarily have the disease.

“A family can have five children and all of them may not have sickle cell disease. Another family can have five children who all have the disease, while another can have some children with the disease and others without it. Every pregnancy has its own probability,” he said.

Dr Soka said the inheritance pattern was among the reasons TSDA was promoting the Vunja Mduara campaign, which focuses on prevention and early identification of sickle cell disease.

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He said the campaign had two major objectives: identifying children with the disease early so they can begin treatment, and preventing new cases through genetic education and testing.

“Prevention is what we call a low-cost, high-impact solution. If we succeed in prevention, we use less money and achieve a greater impact,” he said.

The campaign targets two million young people, particularly secondary school students and those in higher learning institutions, while also reaching young people outside formal education.

Dr Soka said at least 20 per cent of the target, equivalent to 400,000 young people, are expected to undergo testing.

The campaign will cover regions including Kagera, Mara, Shinyanga, Mwanza, Geita and Simiyu in the Lake Zone, as well as Tanga, Pwani, Morogoro, Dar es Salaam, Lindi and Mtwara.

Miss Universe Tanzania 2026 and sickle cell ambassador, Ms Queen-Elizabeth Makune, said she joined the campaign after seeing the effects of sickle cell disease in her family and discovering that she is a carrier of the gene.

“For me, sickle cell is not a story I hear from other people. It is something I have seen and understood through my own life and family,” she said.

Ms Makune said understanding the genetic status of prospective parents was important before starting a family because a child can develop sickle cell disease when both parents carry a diseasecausing sickle cell gene.

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