Foundation urges govt, Nigerians to prioritise sickle cell issues

The Chief Executive Officer and National Director, Sickle Cell Foundation Nigeria (SCFN), Dr Annette Akinsete has urged the government and Nigerians to prioritise issues bordering on sickle cell disorder.

She said this recently at the cocktail party held at the Wheat Baker Hotel, Lagos in commemoration of the 2016 World Sickle Cell Day.

According to her, Nigeria has the highest number of people with sickle cell in the world, yet attention is not given to the disorder. “This is unlike the United States of America where much attention is given to SCD. The few things we know now has come from America where they don’t have as mush sickle cell as we do. WSCD was established by the US because it was seen as a public health problem and if it’s that, it needs to be addressed in a structured concerted manner.

“People don’t want to take up SCD as a course, even the government. Which is why NGO should be able to fill the gap because the government can’t do so much. We should prioritise issues bothering on the disorder. Sickle cell is our thing, Nigeria has the highest burder of the disorder in the world and should be prioritised.”

Reeling out the figure, Akinsete said, 150,000 babies are born every year with sickle cell disorder, only a small fraction live to celebrate their 5th birthdays. 100,000 children die yearly from SCD in Nigeria and over 40 million Nigerians are healthy carriers of the sickle cell gene..

“As a mother if your child is a sickle cell patient and the child has fever, don’t wait till the next day, take the child to the hospital,” she urged.

She however called for more research on sickle cell disorders.

“In programme planning, research is always like an after thought in Nigeria but the earlier we make up to this, the better for us.”