NGO advocates premarital screening for sickle cell

The Sickle Cell Hope Alive Foundation (SCHAF) says voluntary premarital genetic screening remains key to reducing the high incidence of sickle cell disease in Nigeria.

Programme Facilitator of the foundation, Dr. Taiwo Aderemi, made this known during a public awareness lecture held for secondary school students as part of activities of the foundation to mark this year’s World Sickle Cell Day at Ojoo High School, Ibadan on Friday.

The lecture was entitled: “Be the Face and the Voice to raise Awareness to Reduce Discrimination of People Living with Sickle Cell Disease.”

Aderemi, a family health physician, said that sickle cell as a commonest inherited genetic disorder constitutes a major public health problem with attendant high early deaths and morbidity rates.

“Sickle cell disease is a blood disease in which red blood cells has a crescent or sickle shape unlike the usual round shape. Nigeria has the greatest share of sickle cell worldwide with about four million affected individuals, with 150, 000 babies born annually, out of which 100, 000 die during their first year of life.

“The high prevalence of the sickle cell is a result of wrong matching of couples with conflicting genotypes. Voluntary premarital screening and genetic screening play an important role in reducing the number of genetic disorders like sickle cell in children,” he said.

However, the doctor said that people should not wait until they have decided on a partner to get screened, but should be screened as early as when they are in secondary school.

“It is called premarital screening, but it shouldn’t just be done just before marriage because by then it’s often too late as they have already made a commitment. It’s very difficult to convince a couple not to go through with the marriage at that point.

“Early genetic screening and counselling is very important in order to reach as many people as possible and reduce the incidence of sickle cell in our communities,” Aderemi added.
According to him, the poor knowledge of sickle cell, especially among people in rural areas has called for more emphasis on programmes promoting sickle cell awareness and education.

“In order to achieve the desired decline in new births of children with sickle cell, preventive genetic services including screening and counselling should form an integral part of our maternal and child health programmes.

“Policies are needed to ensure easily accessible sickle cell screening and genetic counselling to reduce the high incidence of the disease,” he said.