It affects children who inherit two copies of the sickle cell gene, one from each parent. Nigeria bears the highest burden, where as many as 150,000 babies are born with sickle cell disease annually – the most of any country. Adekunle Gold first wrote of his woes with sickle cell disease in 2022 in his song “5 Star.” Now, he is readying himself for a long-term commitment to advocacy, announcing the establishment of the Adekunle Gold Foundation, which will focus on addressing the needs of children battling sickle cell disease on the African continent. Larry Madowo: Why are you speaking up about sickle cell disease now and especially being very aggressive about this awareness? Nigerian singer Adekunle Gold is using his global platform to raise awareness of sickle cell disease, which disproportionally affects people in Africa.

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Persons: CNN —, Adekunle, readying, CNN’s Larry Madowo, Larry Madowo, CNN Larry Madowo, bro, can’t, Nigeria Larry Madowo, Will, Larry Madowo’s Organizations: CNN, World Health Organization, Foundation, Adekunle Locations: Africa, Nigeria, Nigerian, West Africa, Lagos, Ilorin, Canada