From Gideon Arinze, Enugu
A professor of News, and The Chairman, Sickle Cell Support Society of Nigeria, Prof.
Adekunle Adekile has called on the government to support the sickle cell
society in order to reduce the burden of the disease in the communities
He made the call during a
three-day conference organized by the sickle cell support society of Nigeria in
Enugu with the theme: reducing the burden of sickle cell disease in our
communities.
According to Adekunle,
Sickle cell is a disease that is common all over the world, particularly in
Nigeria which has the largest burden with a total number of over 1,500 children
born every year with the disease.
Adekunle said that the
problem of sickle cell is so pervasive and many of the patients leave in the
rural areas and the care in the tertiary or secondary centers is not enough.
He regretted that the
government has not paid adequate attention to tackling SDC while noting that
the disease cannot be controlled until a comprehensive national policy for the
control and management of they patients is introduced.
“The government
established 6 centers for the screening of the patients all over the country,
but a lot more needed to be done else a lot of the children with the disease
will die even before they are 5 years”
Speaking further, he said
that a bill was presented to the national assembly on the control and
management of the SCD four years ago, but the bill has not passed the committee
stage.
“We must change our
orientation on how care is provided for the patients and ensure that we
adequately empower our primary health care workers in the communities”
On her part, the Director,
Corporate affairs Pfizer for sub-saharan Africa, Mrs. Magaret Olele said that
Community networking is critical to achieving the aim of reducing the burden of
sickle cell in our communities.
She noted that sickle cell
is not a death sentence even as she advised parents to always identify with
organization that are committed to tackling the sourge of the disease.
Also speaking during the
conference, the Director, Comprehensive Sickle Cell Centre in Ghana, Professor
Kwaku Frempong said that most people who are born with sickle cell disease in
Africa are not diagnosed and many of them die as children.
He observed that
governments are not aware of the impact of SDC on childhood mortality while
noting that there is no country in the whole of Africa that has programmes for
new born screening.
"Our governments must
step up measures and provide some supplements so that people can be treated as
the medical cost is usually beyond what people can manage” he said.
Sickle cell support
society of Nigeria is an umbrella body that brings together professionals,
advocates and other interested parties both within the country and in the
diaspora to tackle different aspects of sickle cell disease.
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