The objective of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of 1-year administration of laying-on-of-hands on the morbidity and mortality of patients with sickle cell disease in Africa.

Patients with sickle cell disease (SCD) have a high risk of premature death in Africa, mainly due to insufficient medical services. SCD patients often visit emergency department and need hospitalization when they suffer from severe pain; however, they manage most of painful episodes at home. Appropriate pain management at home is, therefore, crucial to improve their clinical course and quality of life. Laying-on-of-hands may be a good candidate for home care management, because family member(s) can become a practitioner of laying-on-of-hands without difficulty and administer it to their loved one as an initial treatment whenever necessary. There are no reports concerning the effectiveness of laying-on-of-hands for the outcomes of SCD patients, as far as we have investigated.

Inclusion Criteria:

• patients with symptoms associated with sickle cell disease
• those able to receive laying-on-of-hands every weekday for 1 year
• those able to receive conventional medical treatment whenever necessary
• those able to receive blood test at the beginning, after 6 month and after 1 year

Exclusion Criteria:

• those who wish to use other complementary and alternative therapies along with laying-on-of-hands