ArticlePloS one2025
Newborn screening for sickle cell disease in Caluquembe, southwestern Angola, 2024-2025.
Article in PloS one, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
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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.
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Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Newborn Screening for Hemoglobinopathies and Thalassemias: Brief History, Recent Activities, and Global Status-2026.International journal of neonatal screening · 2026Review
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesAngola is one of the countries with the highest prevalence of sickle cell disease (SCD). Neonatal SCD testing is recommended by the Angolan government, but it is not routinely performed. Nearly all previous studies of SCD have been conducted in cities. We implemented a neonatal SCD screening program in a referral hospital in Huíla province to examine the epidemiology of SCD in this Umbundu-speaking population and to demonstrate the feasibility of using point-of-care (POC) tests for SCD in a rural setting.
methodsBetween October 2024 and February 2025, we screened 353 infants less than one month old at Hospital Evangélico de Caluquembe for the hemoglobin S (HbS) gene using HemoTypeSC rapid diagnostic tests. We also reviewed all pediatric outpatient visits from 2024 to identify newly-diagnosed SCD cases.
resultsTwenty-one (6.0%) of the 353 neonates had sickle cell trait (HbAS); none had SCD (HbSS). The outpatient register review identified 26 incident cases of SCD.
conclusionsThe prevalence of HbS is lower in Caluquembe than in Luanda and Cabinda, but the combined results of our newborn screening and pediatric records provide evidence that there is a burden of disease from SCD in Caluquembe and the surrounding areas. Sickle cell screening and treatment programs should be available in all high-burden areas, not just large cities. The per-test costs may still be too expensive for universal newborn screening to be scaled up nationwide, but our pilot study demonstrates that POC tests can be a cost-effective method that yields immediate results.
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