Dr. Ohene-Frempong believes research and treatment should include countries where the disorder is most common, including Ghana. He has contributed personally and substantially to all efforts surrounding the disease. He has made major advancements in treatment of sickle cell, including the implementation of neonatal screening programs. And one of his most important contributions has been his insistence that new treatments be based on good solid science. Sickle cell disease can be a devastating disorder with repeated episodes of severe pain, loss of limbs and damage to critical organs such as the brain, heart and kidneys.
Onset occurs in childhood or in early adult years.
Sickle cell disease affects 250,000 newborns a year in Africa. Sickle cell is a serious and often devastating disease in the U.S., however the fate of children with this disease in Africa is simply horrible. In the U.S., greater than 90 percent of children survive past 20 and more than half of them live into their 50s. This is a major public-health problem in Africa. But with limited resources, African countries devote nothing for the screening, early detection or treatment of the disease.