Global Health Program and Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, NYU School of Global Public Health, 14 East 4th Street, 3rd Fl, New York, NY, 10003, USA.
Behavioral Science and Health Education, College for Public Health and Social Justice, Salus Center, Saint Louis University, 3545 Lafayette Avenue, Saint Louis, MO, 63103, USA.
Global Health. 2021 Feb 17;17(1):20. doi: 10.1186/s12992-021-00671-x.
The burden of sickle cell disease (SCD) is greatest among African nations. Effective scalability of evidence-based interventions (e.g., newborn screening, health education, prophylaxis for infection, optimal nutrition and hydration, hydroxyurea therapy, blood transfusions, and transcranial Doppler (TCD) screening) is urgently needed particularly in these settings for disease management. However, Africa is constrained by limited resources and the lack of capacity to conduct implementation science research for proper understanding of context, and assessment of barriers and facilitators to the uptake and scalability of evidence-based interventions (EBI) for SCD management.
We outline implementation science approaches to embed EBI for SCD within the African context and highlight key implementation research programs for SCD management. Building implementation research capacity will meet the major need of developing effective life-long and accessible locally-tailored interventions for patients with SCD in Africa.
This commentary communicates the importance of the application of implementation science methodology to scale-up evidence-based interventions for the management of SCD in order to reduce pain, prevent other morbidities and premature death experienced by people with SCD in Africa, and improve their overall quality of life.
镰状细胞病（SCD）的负担在非洲国家最为沉重。迫切需要有效地扩大循证干预措施（例如新生儿筛查、健康教育、预防感染、最佳营养和水合作用、羟基脲治疗、输血和经颅多普勒（TCD）筛查）的规模，特别是在这些疾病管理环境中。然而，非洲受到资源有限和缺乏能力的限制，无法开展实施科学研究，以正确了解背景，评估接受和扩大循证干预措施（EBI）用于 SCD 管理的障碍和促进因素。
我们概述了将 EBI 嵌入非洲背景的实施科学方法，并强调了 SCD 管理的关键实施研究计划。建立实施研究能力将满足为非洲 SCD 患者开发有效、终身和可及的本土化干预措施的主要需求。
本评论传达了应用实施科学方法来扩大循证干预措施规模以管理 SCD 的重要性，以减轻非洲 SCD 患者的疼痛，预防其他病态和过早死亡，并提高他们的整体生活质量。
