Abstract

Media coverage of sickle cell disease and hydroxyurea use, access, side effects and policy in sub-saharan africa: A content analysis

Michelle Asiedu-Danso, PhD student¹, Akua Appiah-Num Safo, PharmD, MS.² and Bernard Appiah, DrPH, MS, MDC, BPharm³
(1)Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, (2)University of Minnesota, College of Pharmacy, Minneapolis, MN, (3)Jamesville, NY

APHA 2023 Annual Meeting and Expo

Background: Sickle cell disease (SCD) is an inheritable non-communicable disease endemic in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) where 80 percent of people globally with the disease live. Access to hydroxyurea, an integral medication for managing SCD, remains a challenge but whether African media cover this medication is unknown. This study sought to assess media coverage of hydroxyurea in terms of themes, namely use for SCD, access, policy and side effects.

Method: Articles published in English up to February 28, 2023, in SSA were searched from LexisNexis and NewsBank databases. Search terms included (hydroxyurea) and (sickle cell disease). Out of 309 articles screened, 143 were eligible. Two coders analyzed the contents independently with inter-rater reliability kappa values ranging from 0.7 to 1. Descriptive statistics and chi-square tests were used to analyze frequencies and associations, respectively using SPSS version 27.

Results: The year 2019 had the highest number of articles (31), followed by 2020 (30) with 57 articles based on events. Also, Ghana had the highest number of articles (n=42). There were significant associations between country of newspaper and mentioning policy (p= 0.042) or side effects (p= 0.002) but not use (p=0.704) and access (p=0.065). Also, there were significant associations between event-based articles and mentioning access (p=0.003), or policy (P<0.001) but not side effects (p= 0.08) and use (p= 0.172).

Conclusion: There is a need to improve media coverage of hydroxyurea in SSA. This could empower patients and caregivers to make informed decisions on SCD and advocate for interventions to improve access to hydroxyurea.

Advocacy for health and health education Assessment of individual and community needs for health education Communication and informatics Provision of health care to the public Public health or related public policy Public health or related research