Ntah Boris, Sickle Cell worrior
BY Honorine Cheng
Ntah Boris keunyui based in Kumba, SWR of Cameroon in his 20’s and counting has been told severally that he may not live long because of Sickle Cell disease.
Like others he has the right to live. He laughs, cries, groans in pain and is still celebrated by family, friends and his Facebook community as a warrior.
What decides if he lives or dies is not just the disease but where he is born. June 19th, 2026, the world marked World Sickle Cell Day, commemorated under the theme “Closing the Survival Gap: Equity in Sickle Cell Disease with weeklong activities slated thus far.
Why does a child with sickle cell in America live up to 60 years, while another child in Africa or Cameroon may not live to see their 10th birthday?Sickle cell disease is not a rare disease but the most common genetic disorder in the world and millions live with it, but survival is not equal.
In high-income countries, early screening, comprehensive care, and modern medicine have extended life. In low-income countries like Cameroon instead, lack of timely diagnosis, drugs and specialized care means death comes early and this is the injustice the 2026 theme wants to address.
“The gap in life expectancy between a patient in London and a patient in Buea or Yaounde is not because of biology. It is because of inequity in access to care.” The gap addresses Healthcare disparities, equitable access and Local action where no one should fight sickle cell alone. This is where hope comes in.
In Cameroon where thousands live with sickle cell, Civil Society Organizations are refusing to accept this gap. They’re not just building hospitals but people, by training healthcare workers, strengthening service delivery and integrating sickle cell care into primary healthcare so that a mother in a rural Bangem Division does not have to travel hundreds of kilometers to save her child.
The Ministry of Public Health in Cameroon has joined this call since closing the survival gap requires governments, communities, advocates, and health organizations to unite.
What this means is that a newborn is screened on day one, a family counseled with love not stigma, a clinic that never runs out of drugs and a community that understands sickle cell is not a curse. Sickle cell disease may be in the blood but equity is in our hands.
On this World Sickle Cell Week awareness 2026, the message is clear, no one should die because they were born in the wrong place. No child should suffer because care was too far. Yes, the survival gap can be closed but only if we all choose to close it.