Some recipients of the Sickle Cell Hope Alive Foundation's free drugs organised for sickle cell patients to mark this year's World Sickle Cell Disease Day in Nigeria, held in Oyo State, recently.
Sickle cell patients in Oyo State have expressed appreciation to Sickle Cell Hope Alive Foundation (SCHAF) leadership, headed by Professor Adeyinka Falusi for its philanthropic healthcare, financial aid and entrepreneurial skill development training that the foundation often offers them periodically.
The patients, not less than 200 in number, gave these appreciation remarks during one of the programme activities the foundation organized to mark the 2022 World Sickle Cell Disease Day in Oyo State, held recently.
Miss Olufemi Daniel, a patient, confirmed the healthcare services the people living with sickle cell disease enjoyed from SCHAF since its inception in Nigeria about 10 years ago.
According to her, she has received a sum of N150,000 as a form of financial aids from the foundation and also enjoyed the SCHAF’s empowerment training scheme and a lot of drugs for her healthcare needs, noting that there are many other patients of Sickle Cell disease who are enjoying these facilities from the foundation periodically in the last ten years.
She said: ” I am part of the vocational training that the SCHAF organized for people living with Sickle Cell Disease at the University of Ibadan some time ago. Today, my financial status has improved drastically in the sense that I earn my living from the trade I learned through the foundation. I am bold to say that many of my colleagues who attended SCHAF’s entrepreneurial training also have good stories to tell the whole world about the SCHAF’s goodness towards the people living with Sickle Cell Disease in Nigeria.
“I made bold to say that we are adopted sons and daughters of Professor Falusi and we are proud of her, as a caring foster mother. I have been living with this disease for forty-four years and It has not been easy at all. But when I met Professor Falusi my story changed, as I enjoy free drugs from the foundation periodically. I learnt that she has been using her pension money with other little she could get from few people to take care of us. May God continue to bless her and her family the more,” she prayed.
Speaking further, she enjoined the youngsters not to put their future children into this problem by ensuring that they have knowledge of their Blood Genotype and their Blood Group, as well as the right blood group combination with their partners before marriage engagement. she also called on government and private individuals to support SCHAF in its efforts to fight the increasing rate of Sickle Cell Disease in the country.
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Tribune Online gathered that SCHAF distributed routine drugs and anti-malaria medicine to 200 Sickle Cell patients and also offered free Genotyping text to 50 people in Oyo State to mark this year’s World Sickle Cell Disease Day in Nigeria.
Professor Falusi, in her speech, stated that she has not done enough in her efforts to put smiles on the faces of people living with Sickle Cell Disease in Nigeria. She called on Nigeria Government, state and National Assemblies for collaboration to deal with the disease in Nigeria. According to her, not less than 4 million people are taking treatment for Sickle Cell disease in the county.
“SCHAF has witnessed over 15,000 people in Nigeria through our awareness and sensitisation programme on the preventive measure against the disease, while about 1,200 patients have benefited from our empowerment programmes and free healthcare facilities since we stated. Funding is our major problem. SCHAF has experienced human resources in the field to serve the nation on the prevention and control of Sickle Cell Disease in Nigeria. It is high time government introduced a special Health Insurance scheme for sickle cell patients and to institute New Born Screening Centre where the newborn babies will be examined to determine their blood genotype early enough,” she suggested.
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