TWO DAYS AGO, JUNE 19, was World Sickle Cell Day, and as part of the celebration, I gave an online lecture at ChronMate, an NGO, committed to fighting non-communicable diseases in Nigeria.
It was an amazing session and I was glad I participated, because the scourge of sickle cell disease (SCD) in Nigeria is indescribable.
The participants, over 200 young people, benefitted immensely and the rave reviews are still pouring in.
The truth is that SCD patients, male or female, can live a very long life if they – or their care givers – learn to take care of their health the right way, and this was part of what I discussed during that session.
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Today some AS-AS couple don’t think it is a serious thing in this part of the world because they believe they can find a way around it easily.
While that much is technically true in the Western world, over here, it ain’t easy. Odirokwa easy at all! So the best measure is still to avoid such union, and to do that, it means you will have to know your hemoglobin genotype first. Do that today, if you haven’t already.
Together, we can eradicate SCD from the next generation if we make conscious efforts to do so. And it is possible.
In the end, the organizers sent me a thank-you card. It means a lot to me.
As an SDG Educator, I will keep preaching the news of the relevance of good health until we achieve our regional and global targets.
So lemme hear from you: What is your genotype? What is your blood group?
As for me, I am Hb Genotype: AA
Blood group: A RhD + (i.e. A+)
What of you?
Remember:
+++Impossibility is nothing. Just believe+++
© Caséy Amaefule ’20