As the world marks the World Sickle Cell Disease Day 2020, which is a day recognized by the United Nations (UN), to raise awareness of sickle cell disease at the national and international levels, Bond Chemical Industries Limited, a leading pharmaceutical company in the country wish to give a message of hope that having sickle cell disorder is not a death sentence if the condition is adequately managed.

On 22nd December 2008, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution that recognizes sickle cell disease as a public health problem and “one of the world’s foremost genetic diseases.” The resolution calls for members to raise awareness of the sickle cell disease on June 19th of each year at the national and international levels.

Sickle cell disorders are a group of illnesses that affect red blood cells. It is a genetic condition, which means it is passed on from parents to their off springs.

Sickle cell disease cause the normal round and flexible blood cells to become stiff and sickle-shaped, stopping the blood cells, and the oxygen they carry, from being able to move freely around the body and causing pain. This can cause episodes of severe pain. These painful episodes are referred to as sickle cell disease crisis.

People with sickle cell disease are also at risk of complications such as stroke, acute chest syndrome, blindness, bone damage, and priapism (a persistent, painful erection of the penis).

Over time, people with sickle cell disease can experience damage to organs such as the liver, kidney, lungs, heart, and it could also lead to death.

SCD is a disease that worsens over time. Treatments are available that can prevent complications and lengthen the lives of those who have this condition. These treatment options can be different for each person depending on the symptoms and severity.

However, the management of Bond Chemical Industries Limited, in its quest to reduce the burden of Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) in the country has further increased its commitment to research and development in the manufacturing of new, innovative and high-quality pharmaceuticals in addressing the condition.

National Marketing Manager, Andrew Aina representing Pharm. Remi Omotosho, Managing Director, Bond Chemical and Industries Limited, explained that Hydroxyurea drug can decrease severe complications of SCD, as he declared that treatment is very safe when given by medical specialists experienced in caring for patients with SCD.

He, however, noted that the side effects of taking Hydroxyurea during pregnancy or for a long time are not completely known.

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‘’Another treatment, which can actually cure SCD, is a stem cell transplant (also called a bone marrow transplant); this procedure infuses healthy cells, called stem cells, into the body to replace damaged or diseased bone marrow. Although transplants of bone marrow or blood from healthy donors are increasingly being used to successfully cure SCD, they require a matched donor (a person with similar, compatible bone marrow), and transplants can sometimes cause severe side effects, including occasional life-threatening illness or death.

‘’However, Oxyurea, our brand of Hydroxyurea for the management of Sickle Cell Disease (SCD), is a lifesaving medicine used in the management of SCD. It increases the life expectancy of SCD patients and also reduces the risk of anemia and blood transfusion in patients.

‘’Oxyurea also reduces the frequency and intensity of bone crises, lowers the episode of acute chest syndrome, reduces the frequency of hospitalization, reduces the need for blood transfusion, reduces the risk of cerebral stroke, as well as improving the quality of life in SCD patients.’’

During a visit to the country last year to discuss ways of partnering with some of our brands, especially Oxyurea, a team of foreign researchers from the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, United States described Oxyurea as a lifesaving medicine used in the management of SCD worldwide.

Leading the team from the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Professor of Paediatrics and Medicine, Michael R. Debaun, expressed their delight to visit the management team of Bond Chemical Industries Limited in Nigeria, for the unique position, it occupies as the manufacturer of the only NAFDAC approved Hydroxyurea brand in Nigeria.

Debaun, who is also the founder and director, Vanderbilt-Meharry Centre of Excellence in Sickle Cell Disease, Department of Paediatrics stated that out of about 300,000 children born with the SCD every year, 50 percent are born in Nigeria without any viable approach to prevent the complication of SCD.

‘’It should however be noted that comprehensive and holistic management from birth will go a long way in cutting down on the SCD crisis, as the implication of this is that a mother must know a child’s genotype from birth, in order to ensure proper care from birth.

‘’As we mark this year’s World Sickle Cell Day, we also call for increased advocacy on the prevention, treatment, and management of SCD. Concerted efforts must also be made towards reducing its prevalence, while the government must, as a matter of urgency, place SCD in its priority list and people must be informed on how to avoid giving birth to sickle cell children by creating adequate awareness on genotype compatibility.’’ Debaun said.

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