SALTED Health is a mission-driven nonprofit transforming how newborns are screened, diagnosed, and cared for in the face of Sickle Cell Disease (SCD). We believe that every child—regardless of geography or income—deserves access to early detection and life-saving treatment.
Our founder, Linda Kusi, was part of the leadership team behind a national sickle cell screening program in Ghana—funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation—that screened over 80,000 newborns across all 10 regions. But when the grant ended, so did access to care for thousands of families.
Determined to build something that would last beyond the lifespan of a single grant, Linda founded SALTED Health—a nonprofit created to be sustainable, community-anchored, and powered by technology.
SALTED Health was also born from a desire to honor and continue the legacy of the late Professor Dr. Kwaku Ohene Frempong, whose visionary work made newborn screening for sickle cell possible in Ghana—and inspired a new generation of leaders to carry that legacy forward. Today, SALTED Health is reimagining the future of sickle cell care in Africa, starting at birth.
Inspired by the work of late Professor Kwaku Ohene Frempong MD., SALTED Health envisions a world where every baby born has access to newborn screening—and no child suffers or dies from preventable complications.
Kwaku Ohene-Frempong, 76, of Elkins Park, a world-renowned expert on sickle cell disease, director emeritus of the Comprehensive Sickle Cell Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, professor emeritus of pediatrics at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, and a founder and president of the Sickle Cell Foundation of Ghana, died Saturday, May 7, of metastatic lung cancer at Penn Hospice at Rittenhouse.
Dr. Frempong became interested in pediatrics early in his career and focused on sickle cell disease — a painful genetic disorder that affects red blood cells — in 1972 when his infant son, Kwame, was diagnosed with the illness. Encouraged by his mother and inspired by his son and wife, he went on to develop, advocate, and oversee routine newborn screening programs for sickle cell and establish many of the current treatment practices now used around the world.
Adept as an administrative leader and transformative as a researcher and clinician, Dr. Frempong was, among other things, a founding member of the Global Sickle Cell Disease Network, national coordinator for the American Society of Hematology Consortium on Newborn Screening in Africa, and chief medical officer, board of directors chairman, and board member emeritus of the Sickle Cell Disease Association of America.
To scale community-anchored, tech-enabled systems that provide early diagnosis, continuous care, and family-centered support for SCD across low-resource settings.
Currently operating in Ghana, SALTED Health partners with hospitals, health centers, and community clinics to deliver integrated SCD care. We plan to scale regionally across West Africa.
Currently operating in Ghana, SALTED Health partners with hospitals, health centers, and community clinics to deliver integrated SCD care. We plan to scale regionally across West Africa.
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