Sickle cell disease in African newspapers: a content analysis of news coverage of burden, genetic counselling and newborn screening, 2006‐2023
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Background
Despite being the most common monogenic disease worldwide, there is a general lack of public awareness of sickle cell disease (SCD). Newspapers, which are widely accessible in Africa, are key to increasing awareness of health issues and disease prevention. This study aimed to assess the extent to which newspapers in Africa have reported on key topics, namely SCD burden, newborn screening and genetic counselling or testing.
Methods
We conducted a content analysis of newspaper articles on the burden (prevalence or incidence) of SCD, SCD genetic counselling or testing and newborn screening for SCD using two newspaper databases: Nexis Uni and NewsBank. The search was limited to articles published in English until 31 October 2023. We used descriptive statistics to analyse key topics and chi-square tests to assess the association between variables, including SCD burden, newborn screening and genetic counselling or testing.
Results
A total of 804 newspaper articles on the key topics were published from 2006 to 2023 in 13 African countries. Of these, 68.9%, 51.2% and 20.8% covered SCD burden, genetic counselling and newborn screening, respectively. We found increasing newspaper coverage of the key topics over the years. There were statistically significant relationships between the country of newspaper and mentioning prevalence or incidence of SCD (p < 0.001) or newborn screening (p < 0.001) but not genetic counselling (p = 0.217).
Conclusion
There was low media coverage of SCD in Africa. Improved newspaper coverage of SCD could contribute to better public awareness about important interventions.
Trial Registration
The authors have confirmed clinical trial registration is not needed for this submission.
Despite being the most common monogenic disease worldwide, there is a general lack of public awareness of sickle cell disease (SCD). Newspapers, which are widely accessible in Africa, are key to increasing awareness of health issues and disease prevention. This study aimed to assess the extent to which newspapers in Africa have reported on key topics, namely SCD burden, newborn screening and genetic counselling or testing.
Methods
We conducted a content analysis of newspaper articles on the burden (prevalence or incidence) of SCD, SCD genetic counselling or testing and newborn screening for SCD using two newspaper databases: Nexis Uni and NewsBank. The search was limited to articles published in English until 31 October 2023. We used descriptive statistics to analyse key topics and chi-square tests to assess the association between variables, including SCD burden, newborn screening and genetic counselling or testing.
Results
A total of 804 newspaper articles on the key topics were published from 2006 to 2023 in 13 African countries. Of these, 68.9%, 51.2% and 20.8% covered SCD burden, genetic counselling and newborn screening, respectively. We found increasing newspaper coverage of the key topics over the years. There were statistically significant relationships between the country of newspaper and mentioning prevalence or incidence of SCD (p < 0.001) or newborn screening (p < 0.001) but not genetic counselling (p = 0.217).
Conclusion
There was low media coverage of SCD in Africa. Improved newspaper coverage of SCD could contribute to better public awareness about important interventions.
Trial Registration
The authors have confirmed clinical trial registration is not needed for this submission.
Date Issued
2026-04-01
Date Acceptance
2026-03-12
Citation
eJHaem, 2026, 7 (2)
ISSN
2688-6146
Publisher
Wiley
Journal / Book Title
eJHaem
Volume
7
Issue
2
Copyright Statement
© 2026 The Author(s). eJHaem published by British Society for Haematology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
License URL
Identifier
10.1002/jha2.70269
Subjects
Africa
content analysis
newspaper
sickle cell disease
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
e70269
Date Publish Online
2026-03-30