Sickle Cell Network meets in Principality

© Charly Gallo – Government Media Bureau

The associations and referring doctors of the Sickle Cell Network (Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Mauritania, Senegal and Madagascar) met in the Principality for working sessions coordinated by the Department of International Cooperation, as part of its flagship programme to combat sickle-cell disease.

Founded in 2013 by the Department of International Cooperation, the Sickle Cell Network seeks to strengthen the partnerships between health professionals and associations in six countries to which Monaco provides official development assistance (Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Mauritania, Senegal and Madagascar). The network also aims to build the capacities of associations and pool the efforts of doctors in the fight against this disease.

 On Friday 22 April, at the end of a week of work and training, the associations and doctors were received at the Ministry of State by Gilles Tonelli, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation. They presented the progress made on the project to produce a guide to treating sickle-cell patients and the network’s action plan for 2016–2017.

Sickle-cell disease, a hereditary haemoglobin disorder, is the world’s most common genetic condition, affecting around 50 million people. Despite its prevalence, it is a little-understood disease, leading to stigma experienced by patients and their families. Efforts to conduct research and ensure access to treatment unfortunately remain limited.

For more information, see: www.reseaudrepano.com