New gene therapies for sickle cell out of reach in countries they're needed most

autotldr Bot , 7 months ago

This is the best summary I could come up with:

---

Beyond their sky-high prices, these therapies are extremely complex to give patients because they require long hospitalizations, sophisticated medical equipment and specially trained doctors and scientists.

Some scientists worry that new cures won’t reach their potential, future treatments may never be invented and the prospect of wiping out diseases like sickle cell will remain a distant dream.

Lalit Pargi, who lives in Udaipur in northern India, said he wasn’t diagnosed until he was 16 despite having the tell-tale yellow eyes and skin of jaundice, a common sign of sickle cell.

Available treatments can reduce the bouts of pain known as “crises.” Dongre’s children, now 19 and 13, take a medicine called hydroxyurea, a decades-old chemo drug that helps prevent the formation of sickle-shaped red blood cells and control the disease.

In July, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a sickle cell “elimination mission” that combines awareness, education, screening, early detection and treatment.

The situation is much the same in East Africa’s Tanzania, where the health ministry has partnered with drug company Novartis, which makes sickle cell medicine, to improve access to diagnosis and treatment.

---

The original article contains 1,457 words, the summary contains 184 words. Saved 87%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!