The growing incidence of sickle cell disease among new born babies is posing a big challenge to medical experts, thus forcing them to evolve new ways of reducing it.
It was reported recently that about 4000 new babies are born with sickle cell disease in Anambra State annually and the situation has become more worrisome due to the fact that many would –be couples do not carry out tests before marriage to determine their blood groups so as to avoid bearing babies with the incurable disease. It was also reported that two percent of children born in West and Central Africa have the disease that has no cure.
Since eradication of sickle cell disease is not feasible in the foreseeable future given what experts describe as challenges of present day technology, education and economy, emphasis should be placed on structured and integrated control measures.
Dr. Eze Nwafor, the programme officer for sickle cell disease in the Anambra State Ministry of Health said during a training workshop mounted for nurses and medical laboratory technologists at Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University Teaching Hospital, Awka, that there is need for early detection of the disease for easy management.
The participants, who were drawn from the public and faith –based health institutions were lectured properly on effects of infarction, effects of hemolisis, types of crisis in sickle cell disease, methods of carrying out investigations and crisis period management.
Though most of the participants had earlier been exposed to similar training in the past, Nwafor said there was need to retrain them, as well as train more people because of the growing concerns in the management of the disease. He observed that despite the fact that some churches insist on determining the blood groups of would-be couples before marriage, many people intending to get married deliberately dodge the test only to regret later when they produce offspring with sickle cell disease.
He said: “The essence of gathering the participants was to ensure that they screen babies at birth for traces of sickle cell. The reason is that rather than allow the children to grow with it without early detection, it should be discovered at birth for easy management.
“From studies done, babies with sickle cell identified early tend to survive and live longer than those discovered late. We expect the health care providers to collect samples of blood of new born babies and send them to the teaching hospital for proper screening in the laboratories, using the newly acquired machines.
“The reason we are worried is that those who have the disease are a burden to their families which is why early detection is necessary. In some developed countries, those with sickle cell disease live above 50 years of age and we want such a situation in this country.”
Mr. Chidi Nwakude, whose establishment is partnering with the state ministry of health on the programme said that about 20 children with sickle cell whose parents did not even know that they have the disease, were recently discovered in the state.
According to him, parents must be educated on the necessity to comply with the basic treatment and they must also be taught to recognize early signs of specific complications of sickle disorders and be provided with anticipatory guidance related to the management of the disease.
Also, he stated, nurses and midwives in pre-natal clinics must educate pregnant women on the need to participate in the screening programmes, adding that while their children might not have the disease, they may be carriers who may require education and decision –making counseling.
By: Francis Igata
Vanguard News
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