By IFEOMA IKEM
The Chairman, Sickle Cell Federation of Nigeria (SCFN),Prof. Olu Akinyaju, has expressed the need for Nigerians to support people with Sickle Cell Disease.
He said this at the end of Year celebration of the club held at the National Sickle Cell Centre, Lagos.
According to him, there are lots to be done and people should support persons with SCD. “They should also support centres and the clubs. We need enough donations for research, tests, counselling and medication.”
“In 2016, we will do more capacity building, it is very important and it will involve periodic counselling, training for personnel, doctors and nurses for emergency situations’’, he said.
Akinyaju called for the establishment of at least one sickle cell centre in each state of the federation advising people with SCD to always keep warm, stay away from dust, sleep under mosquito nets, take medication and drink a lot of water during harmattan.
Mrs Ayo Otaigbe, President, Sickle Cell Club, Lagos, called for public support to help improve the lives of people with Sickle Cell Disorders (SCD).
Otaigbe said that more research was also required to aid in the management of the disorder.
The fact that over 150,000 children are born every year in Nigeria with symptomatic sickle cell anaemia while one in every four Nigerian is a carrier of the sickle cell gene is well documented.
Many of these children die at infancy due to lack of information and appropriate care. Over the years, advances have been made to unravel the complex nature of SCD.