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🇳🇬 Nigeria /Health & Science

Health experts urge urgent action on sickle cell in Nigeria, Africa

From The Punch · (6m ago) English Critical tone

Summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

TLDR

  • Health experts and researchers are calling for urgent, coordinated action to address the rising burden of sickle cell disease in Nigeria and Sub-Saharan Africa.
  • Nigeria faces a high burden, with approximately 150,000 children born annually with the condition, many facing lifelong challenges due to inadequate care in resource-poor settings.
  • A meeting at the University of Abuja emphasized the need to translate research findings into concrete action plans and sustainable implementation, moving beyond discussions to tangible interventions.

The University of Abuja, now Yakubu Gowon University, recently hosted a critical gathering of health professionals and researchers focused on the escalating challenge of sickle cell disease in Nigeria and across Sub-Saharan Africa. The Centre of Excellence for Sickle Cell Disease Research and Training, alongside the Patient-Centred Sickle Cell Disease Management in Sub-Saharan Africa Consortium, convened this vital meeting, underscoring the urgency of the situation.

timely and critical to millions affected by the condition.

— Professor Hakeem FawehinmiVice Chancellor of the University of Abuja, describing the significance of the sickle cell disease meeting.

Professor Hakeem Fawehinmi, the Vice Chancellor, highlighted Nigeria's significant burden, noting that around 150,000 children are born with sickle cell disease each year. He lamented that many face a future of pain and inadequate care, particularly in rural and peri-urban areas. The PACTS programme's research offers evidence for improved outcomes, but Fawehinmi stressed the crucial need to implement these findings effectively, posing the question of responsibility for sustaining these gains.

Nigeria bears one of the highest burdens of sickle cell disease globally, with about 150,000 children born annually with the condition.

— Professor Hakeem FawehinmiVice Chancellor of the University of Abuja, stating the scale of the sickle cell burden in Nigeria.

The Bursar, Shiva M’ovul-Kondoun, shared a deeply personal and harrowing account of losing six siblings to the disease, illustrating the devastating impact of poor access to care. Her testimony underscored the necessity of local ownership of interventions, especially as global funding declines. The initiative represents a beacon of hope, aiming to change the narrative surrounding sickle cell management in Nigeria and reduce reliance on foreign partners.

Sadly, many of them will face a lifetime of pain, interrupted schooling, compromised livelihood, and inadequate care, mostly because of a lot of our resource-poor settings in the areas outside the centre, peri-urban areas, rural areas.

— Professor Hakeem FawehinmiVice Chancellor of the University of Abuja, describing the challenges faced by sickle cell patients.
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Originally published by The Punch. Summarized and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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