{"id":29913,"date":"2026-05-20T18:18:40","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T15:18:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siaya.go.ke\/siaya\/?p=29913"},"modified":"2026-05-20T19:31:31","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T16:31:31","slug":"siaya-strengthens-early-screening-for-sickle-cell-disease","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siaya.go.ke\/siaya\/siaya-strengthens-early-screening-for-sickle-cell-disease\/","title":{"rendered":"Siaya Strengthens Early Screening for Sickle Cell Disease with New Electrophoresis Machine"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Sharon Onyango<\/strong><\/p>\n

Siaya County's Department of Health and Sanitation is intensifying efforts to improve early diagnosis and management of sickle cell disease (SCD) through expanded newborn screening, point-of-care testing, and strengthened laboratory systems. With Kenya recording between 6% and 15 % of children under five succumbing to sickle cell disease due to delayed diagnosis, health experts say early detection remains critical in reducing morbidity and mortality associated with the condition.<\/p>\n

In Siaya County, along with the wider Lake Victoria basin, is a global and national hotspot for Sickle Cell Disease (SCD). Approximately 4.5% to 5% of children are born with SCD, and about 18% are born with the sickle cell trait. During the training and stakeholder engagement forum, healthcare workers and partners discussed the pathophysiology of sickle cell disease, common chronic complications, and the importance of timely diagnosis to prevent severe outcomes such as stroke, infections, and severe anemia.<\/p>\n

\"\"A key highlight of the session was the introduction of the Gazelle Hb electrophoresis machine, a portable point-of-care diagnostic machine donated by Academic Model Providing Access to Healthcare (AMPATH) through the Ministry of Health. The battery-powered machine can detect hemoglobin variants within minutes, improving access to rapid testing, especially in remote facilities with limited laboratory infrastructure. The machine will be stationed at Siaya County Referral Hospital to support early diagnosis and patient management. Healthcare workers were also introduced to the Hb Variant Test Pack, designed to speed up diagnosis and support early treatment initiation.<\/p>\n

Health stakeholders noted that the new diagnostic technologies will help identify and manage sickle cell disease earlier, ultimately reducing preventable deaths and improving the quality of life for affected children.<\/p>\n

As Siaya strengthens its child health systems, officials say the focus remains on transforming sickle cell disease from a silent inheritance into a manageable condition through innovation, awareness, and early intervention.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Sharon Onyango Siaya County’s Department of Health and Sanitation is intensifying efforts to improve early diagnosis and management of sickle cell disease (SCD) through expanded newborn screening, point-of-care testing, and strengthened laboratory systems. With Kenya recording between 6% and 15 % of children under five succumbing to sickle cell disease due to delayed diagnosis, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":29914,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29913","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-updates"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/siaya.go.ke\/siaya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29913","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/siaya.go.ke\/siaya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/siaya.go.ke\/siaya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siaya.go.ke\/siaya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siaya.go.ke\/siaya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29913"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/siaya.go.ke\/siaya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29913\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siaya.go.ke\/siaya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29914"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/siaya.go.ke\/siaya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29913"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siaya.go.ke\/siaya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29913"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siaya.go.ke\/siaya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29913"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}