Nigerian gov’t to review guidelines for sickle cell treatment

Nigerian government will review the guideline for Sickle Cell Disease in 2022 to improve its treatment as the old one is obsolete.

The Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, represented by a Deputy Director in the ministry, Dr. Alayo Sopekan, said this in Abuja on Monday, at the Sickle Pan African Consortium Nigeria Network two-day workshop.

Nigeria has the highest burden of sickle cell diseases globally.

According to him, “More than 150,000 babies are being born annually with SCD, and 25 per cent of the adult populations of reproductive age are carrying the disease.”

He said that more than 50 per cent of the babies die before their fifth birthday.

However, due to stigmatization, many patients hide children suffering from the disease and this makes it impossible to address.

He said that for the country to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 1, 3, 4 and 10, Nigeria must address the issue of sickle cell disease.

Ehanire said that the government has adopted universal newborn screening to achieve its goals on sickle cell disease.

He said that the country is putting strategies in place to address the disease.

The Director of the University of Abuja Centre of Excellence for Sickle Cell research and training, Prof. Obiageli Nnodu, said that the current curative therapy available for SCD is bone marrow transplantation.

Nnodu said, it has the drawbacks of exorbitant costs outside the reach of most patients, and only two or three centres offer such service in the country.
“This necessitates simple, effective and scalable tools to address the burden wholistically.

“These tools encompass health education, early diagnosis, training of different cadres of healthcare providers on established standards of care and stakeholder engagement to drive policy and improve care,’’ she said.

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