BY GABRIEL OLAWALE

People living with Sickle Cell Disorder  (SCD) want the Federal government to institute a policy of free treatment for sickle cell disorder in the country.

This was the consensus recntly during a gathering of  families of people living with SCD who gathered at the Annual Scientific Conference of the National Orthopaedic Hospital Igbobi has called for free treatment of people living with SCD in all public owned hospitals.

The stakeholders who examined the burden of the disease noted the untold hardship treatment of the disorder has brought to the families.

Speaking at the programme, Editor of African Sickle Cell News & World Report Mr. Ayoola Olajide   advised carriers of the trait intending to marry to have a rethink and as well as apply caution rather than confrontation.

Olajide who stressed the need for Federal Government to declare treatment for sickle cell free at all public hospitals nationwide said “Our parents are groaning under the very heavy financial burden of keeping us going.”

Guest speaker, Prof. Iheanyi Okpala explained that the genetic basis of sickle cell inheritance has been known for many years. It is just recently however that this genetic knowledge has become useful in helping those families known to carry the sickle cell gene to avoid the birth of infants affected with the sickle cell disorder.

Okpala revealed that the sickle cell disorder is known to occur when a person inherits two sickle cell genes (one from each parent) or a combination of one sickle cell gene from one parent and any one of several other abnormal hemoglobin genes from the other.

He noted that they do not have any universally effective cure for the Sickle Cell Disorder, SCD treatment , adding that what they do for now is to manage it and make life easier.

His word: “Today we did not have any universally effective curable treatment. So what we do is to manage it, try and make things better. Two ways, there is a situation in which they have increase pain and increase shortage of blood and increase weakness in the body. We intend to cut that crisis. When people have such crisis they are advice to seek medical attention, because crisis can be brought up by many things including infection.”

Okpala said the symptoms and complications of SCD may include, swelling in the hands and feet, often accompanied by a fever.