Isaac Odame: combating both disease and disparity

Abstract

Until quite recently, sickle cell disease was often tantamount to an early death-sentence, even in high-income countries. In the USA circa 1977, the life expectancy for a patient with sickle cell disease was in the mid-teens. In recent decades, though, the efforts made in high-income countries (HICs) have hugely improved the outcomes for most patients with sickle cell disease. However, HICs account for less than 10% of the global sickle cell disease burden. For most patients with sickle cell disease worldwide, life expectancy remains low. In sub-Saharan Africa, almost one in every 50 babies has sickle cell disease, and 50–90% of them will die before the age of 5 years, points out Dr Isaac Odame, a paediatric haematologist at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) and professor of paediatrics at the University of Toronto (Toronto, ON, Canada), where he also serves as the Haematology Division Director in the Department of Medicine. He is well aware that the biggest reason for such a grim mortality rate is a widespread scarcity of proper diagnosis.