Ghana signs five-year contract for use of Novartis drug in the treatment of sickle cell disease

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Ghana will use hydroxyurea, a generic drug developed by Novartis, for the treatment of sickle cell disease as a result of a five-year agreement signed in January this year.

Treatment, according to the Ghana Health Service, will soon be deployed for health across the country to reduce the current cost of treating the genetic disease.

Ghana and Novartis, an international pharmaceutical company, signed the Memorandum of Understanding at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January 2019 to improve the diagnosis and treatment of people with the disease.

Dr. Anthony Nsiah-Asare, chief executive of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), said Wednesday at a press conference in Accra that the public-private partnership agreement would significantly reduce the cost treatment of the disease. claims the life of many infants in Ghana.

Photo: Dr. Anthony Nsiah-Asare

MCS is an inherited disease that causes significant damage to red blood cells, blood vessels and organs.

It affects the shape of red blood cells and can make blood cells and Bessel sticker more common.

It is estimated that about 15,000 births in Ghana are affected each year by the SCD.

The Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Ghana's largest referral hospital, diagnoses and treats approximately 1,000 patients with hydroxyurea each year.

The first batch of 5,600 doses of hydroxyurea was introduced in the country and would be distributed to all public health facilities in the country for sale to patients at a discounted price.

Hydroxyurea is the main treatment for sickle cell patients with sickle cell disease in developed countries.

During the five years of the entry into force of the Agreement, the SCD treatment with hydroxyurea is expected improve and prolong the lives of people with the disease through a comprehensive approach to screen, diagnose, treat and manage the disease, train and educate and improve clinical and scientific research capacity.

Dr. Nsiah-Asare said stakeholders plan to collaborate on field trials and guidelines for managing sickle cell disease through the establishment of centers of excellence for scientific research and development in the 16 regional capitals.

This, he said, would be followed by the expansion of new born screening of the MSC, which was currently being carried out in some districts of Kumasi alone.

"The partners focused on four main areas. treatment of the disease, which aims to search make hydroxyurea available and accessible in Ghana, diagnosis, with the aim of making at least one new born screening site available in each region, research and advocacy, "he said.

According to Dr. Nsiah-Asare, Ghana's health service will, as part of the memorandum, prioritize sickle cell disease as an unmet medical need in Ghana's health program and facilitate coordination between different government entities .

He said the partners were working together on the inclusion of the hydroxyurea drug and the corresponding laboratory tests in the national health insurance scheme.

Patrice Natchaba, Head of Global Health and Corporate Responsibility at Novartis, explained that the partnership was aimed at ensuring that no children or families with sickle cell disease were left behind.

He encouraged families to have their children tested for the gene for sickle cell disease. early diagnosis was the surest way to reduce the burden of disease.

Hydroxyurea, according to him, improves the health of red blood cells when it is taken Daily based.

Natchaba said Nortavis was committed to its share of the partnership and will bring an additional 40,000 people by September this year. doses of the drug.