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L-R Dr. Annette Akinsete National Director/CEO Sickle Cell Foundation Nigeria, Chairman Sickle Cell Foundation Nigeria, Prof. Olu Akinyanju and Mrs. Ayo Otaigbe member of the board directors of Sickle Cell foundation Nigeria addressing Newsmen at the National Sickle Cell Centre at Idi-araba in Lagos Nigeria on June 13, 2013.
Sickle Cell Foundation of Nigeria solicits better life for Sickle Cell patients. Professor Olu Akinyanju Chairman of Sickle Cell Foundation Nigeria made it known to newsmen on June 13, 2013 at the National Sickle Cell Centre situated at Idi-araba in Lagos Nigeria that the foundation needs the support of governments at all levels, be it federal, state or local to be able to make life better for people with Sicle Cell Disorder in Nigeria. According to Prof. Akinyanju, over forty million Nigerians live with Sickle Cell Disorder, thus making Nigeria the country with the highest Sickle Cell patients in the world. The foundation alone cannot solely make life meaningful for Patients with Sickle Cell Disorder says the chairman of the foundation. As the world marks the 2013 WORLD SICKLE DAY on June 19, the foundation is using the opportunity to call on the government of Nigeria, private sector, NGOs, and Communites across the country (Nigeria) to support the Sickle Cell Disorder patients by implementing the policies the Nigerian Sickle Cell Expert Advisory Committee (NISEAC) has recommeded since April 2008. The recommendation is meant to improve the quality of life of people with Sickle Cell anaemia in Nigeria and increase their average life- expectancy from less than 20 years to what obtains among affected persons in the US- 57 years – and even surpass it.
It is imperative therefore that the very useful recommendations made by the Nigerian Sickle Cell Expert Advisory Committe (NISEAC) since April 1998, be implemented in order to uniformly improve the standard of care and significantly reduce avoidable illness and deaths among affected persons. These recommendations are as follows
1. Introduction of Newborn or Infant Screening programme for SCD to foster early diagnosis.
2, Provision of free prophylactic measures for infections that they are prone to and which frequetly cause severe illness and deaths in children with Sickle Cell anaemia- oral penicilin and pnuemococcal vaccines.
3. Training of Sickle Cell Specialist Nurses to increase access to well informed skilled health workers.
4. Development of standard Blood Transfusion Services throughout the country.
5. Prevention of the fraudulent marketing of remedies of unproven benefit to the Sickle Cell affected population. With the implementation of this recommendations, Prof. Olu Akinyanju is sure that life will be better with people living with Sickle Cell Disorder which incidentally happens to be this year`s theme: BETTER LIFE WITH SICKLE CELL.
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. A Sickle Cell patient undergoing a Transcranial Screening at the National Sickle Cell centre on June 13, 2013.
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