The Sickle Cell Support Network,
an NGO, says Nigeria records about 150,000 sickle cell births annually
but 75 per cent of this number never get to see their fifth birthday.
The
President of the group, Dr. Deborah Onokpono, made this known in an
interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Wednesday in Calabar as
part of efforts to sensitise people about sickle cell condition.
She
said: “Sickle is a medical condition and not inflicted upon us by one
spiritual force or deity, people are born with it and it is not
contagious but inherited.’’
Onokpono
said though we have what we call bone marrow transplant, which gives a
patient a 50:50 survival chance, the condition had no cure yet.
She
advised those who were about getting married to know their genotype and
that of their spouses to be, as prevention was the best way to control
sickle cell.
“Sickle
cell is preventable if people with the AS genotype do not get married
to spouses who also have the AS genotype,” she said.
She
noted that the awareness is still low in Nigeria when you compare it to
HIV and stigmatisation is high as the victims are seen as people who
would die soon.
Similarly,
a haematologist, Dr Ufon Esien, said the condition is prevalent in
sub-Saharan Africa, so countries around this region should enhance the
awareness of the condition amongst their citizens.
“Children
with sickle cell normally had hand and foot syndrome, joint pains as
they grew older, they may also have kidney problems, acute chest
syndrome and even anaemia, these conditions were not curable but
manageable,’’ the expert said.
Dr
Esien however advised parents not to begin with analgesics that were
highly addictive because the sickle cell patient may become addicted and
that would take a difficult and long process to remedy.
Also,
the President of the Medical Women Association of Nigeria, Cross River
chapter, Dr Jacinta Okoi-Obuli, said they came to let people know that
there was nothing to be ashamed of if someone had sickle cell.
“Sickle
cell is not something to be ashamed of because we have doctors and
other professionals who have the condition but have succeeded in
different spheres of life,” she said.
She
added that MWAN was partnering with different laboratories in the
state, so, they could simply take blood samples of people that wanted to
know their genotype and provide credible results.
She
advised people who wanted to check their genotype to find out the
credibility of the laboratory as there were many quacks around.
“We
have cases where people have done their genotype in three different
labs and have three different results and they go ahead to get married
only to give birth to children with sickle cell,” she said.
She
stated that the notion that love was blind was no longer tenable, and
advised would be couples to endeavour to know their genotype to prevent a
future of pain.
On
his part, the President, Association of Resident Doctors, Cross River
chapter, Dr Antigua Cobham, called on the Federal Government to invest
in researches to discover a cure for sickle cell.
He
noted that sickle cell was more in the tropics as Nigeria had the
highest number of people living with sickle cell in the world while
Cross River had the highest number of carriers in Nigeria.
“We must not always wait for the white man to carry out researches for us, this is more our problem now than theirs.
“Nigeria
has the highest number of persons living with the condition in the
world and Cross Rivers has the largest number of people with this
problem in Nigeria,” he said.
Responding,
Dr Inyang Achibong, the state Commissioner for Health, who was
represented by Mrs Magdalene Nka, Director Medical Laboratory Services,
Ministry of Health, said the state government was aware of the high rate
of sickle cell in the state.
She
said the idea of having a sickle cell centre in the state was not a bad
one as such centre would subsidise the cost of the tests or even make
it free.
“Now
that the awareness is increasing, there could be policies made because
looking at our policies, there is nothing specific about sickle cell, it
is just general health, we can start looking into this as the awareness
is growing,’’ she said
She
added that medical personnel should know that when they saw a carrier,
they would have to give their all, both love and expertise, as the
victims did not make themselves that way but were born into it.
NAN reports that the world Sickle Cell Day is marked annually on June 19.
This year’s theme is “Sickle Cell: Past, Present and Future’’.
By: (NAN)
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