Sickle Cell Disease in African Newspapers: A Content Analysis of News Coverage of Burden, Genetic Counselling and Newborn Screening, 2006‐2023

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.