Screen children early for sickle cell disease
A Paediatric Specialist at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), Dr Lawrence Osei-Tutu, has called for the screening of children for sickle cell before they reach the age of 10.
Advertisement
This, according to him, would not only let them know their status but would also help them to seek early treatment to avoid complications later in life.
Dr Osei-Tutu made the call in an interview with to the Daily Graphic during the celebration of World Sickle-Cell Day in Kumasi.
Adoption
The United Nations (UN) General Assembly, at its 63rd session, adopted a resolution that ‘recognises sickle-cell anaemia as a public health problem’ and declared June 19 every year as World Sickle-Cell Day.
The resolution urged member states and organisations of the UN system to use the day to create awareness of sickle cell.
This year’s celebration makes it the seventh time the day has been marked the world over and in the country.
The day, which had the theme: “The myth of sickle-cell disease, the need to increase public awareness,” brought together patients, support and advocacy groups, medical personnel and other stakeholders.
Don’t toy with human lives
Dr Osei-Tutu complained about the behaviour of some health personnel on how they handled patients, saying, “You cannot continue to toy or experiment with the lives of human beings like animals.”
He urged churches and other faith-based groups to desist from engaging the services of unqualified people to conduct counselling and screening on various health issues.
According to him, unqualifired people posed great threats to the patients and undermined the provision of quality health care for the citizens in general.
Dr Osei-Tutu hinted that plans were far advanced to have hydroxyurea (a drug for sickle-cell patients) on the National Health Insurance drug list.
This, he said, would relieve the patients of the challenges they went through in buying medicine.
Education
The Kumasi Metropolitan Director of Health Service, Dr Kwasi Yeboah-Ewudzi, called for the intensification of public education by all stakeholders to stop the current state of stigmatisation associated with the disease.
He appealed to the government and all stakeholders to help improve public education and the care and treatment for sickle-cell patients in the country.