A non-governmental organisation (NGO), Sickle Cell Hope Alive Foundation (SCHAF) has identified community participation as a key factor in bringing awareness to the reduction of the burden of Sickle Cell Disease in Nigeria.
Making the call during a press conference organised by SCHAF, on Tuesday, June 14, 2022, at the Ibadan Civic Centre, to commemorate the 2022 World Sickle Cell Day and the 10th year anniversary of the NGO, the founder, Prof Adeyinka Falusi, described the importance of the participation of community members in raising awareness about the disease as she described Nigeria as the country with the highest number of sickle cell carriers in Africa.
According to her, “Nigeria bears the highest burden of Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) in the world with over 4 million sufferers receiving treatment and over 40 million trait carriers capable of spreading this disorder. Of the 300,000 babies born with SCD in Africa annually, 150,000 with SCD are born in Nigeria with 100,000 dying annually.”
“The role of community in promoting a health-conscious environment cannot be over-emphasised. The community has a huge part to play in taking the message of Sickle Cell Disease to the family unit, this will increase the awareness, foster prevention and help reduce the burden on the existing sufferers,” Falusi noted.
She, therefore, called on all members of the community in different sectors to join efforts to spread awareness of Sickle Cell Disease.
The retired professor of Hematology and human genetics hinted at the activities slated for the year’s commemoration which are giving free treatments to patients, conducting a free genotype test and raising awareness amongst market women and religious centres, which are parts of what she described as the mission of the NGO.
Delivering the message of the Oyo State commissioner for health, the Director of Secondary Health Care and Training in the state Ministry of Health, Dr Wale Falana expressed the government’s appreciation for SCHAF’s efforts on Sickle Cell disease. He, however, hinted at the facilities the Oyo State government has put in place in primary health centres and the state hospital to cater for the needs of people living with sickle cell and the free treatment arrangement for children under the age of five.
One of the participants, who is a carrier of the disease and a pharmacist in the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, Dr Mariam Lawal, spoke with Tribune Online, where she advised patients to keep their hopes and dreams alive and then urged members of the public to desist from stigmatising Sickle Cell Disease carriers.
Lawal said, “I advise people living with sickle cell disease condition to be encouraged. They should think positively about their condition and believe they can achieve whatever dreams they have.”
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World Sickle Cell Day… World Sickle Cell Day… World Sickle Cell Day…
and then