…Groups empower healthcare practitioners with pain management skills
Government has been urged to implement sickle-cell-friendly policies to enhance the attainment of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).
It was noted that in 2021, the Senate passed a bill seeking to control and manage sickle cell anaemia, considering that it has the potential of affecting Nigeria’s aspiration of attaining Goal three of SDG, which is devoted to good health and well-being unless special attention is paid to prevention and management of the disease.
This was disclosed at the 2022 Pain Management Summit, themed, ‘Effective Pain Management For Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) organised by Sickle Cell Health Initiative (SCHI) and Nirvana Initiative in commemorating sickle-cell awareness month.
The summit aimed at sensitising society about pains as well as, showcasing the experiences of sickle cell patients, equipping healthcare providers and caregivers with current management knowledge and skills to properly mitigate the barriers, myths and facts when treating sickle cell crisis.
Director, Disease Control, Lagos State, Dr. Agbolagorite Rotimi, in his statement, said with continuous advancements in the medical field, innovations are springing up to effectively tackle pain in SCD.
He reiterated the state’s commitment to improving the health of its citizens. According to Rotimi: “Lagos is the pioneer State to commence routine newborn screening for SCDs in Nigeria. This is, in consideration of its unwavering commitment to improving citizen’s health” and in tandem with the city’s status. “This genotype screening service, which commenced in the year 2021, is available in 25 General hospitals and 40 Primary Health Care (PHC) in the state and at present over 5,000 babies have been screened with over 200 babies screened positive for SCD and have been referred to specialist sickle cell clinics in the state.”
Chairman Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) Lagos State, Dr. Benjamin Olowojebutu, said that the pain associated with the disorder could lead to mental health challenges like stress, anxiety and depression.
“Living with sickle cell disease can be hard, especially for children. They may feel singled out or left out of things others enjoy because of their condition. These feelings can add to other problems the disease can cause,” he added.
According to him, sickle cell is the most prevalent genetic disease in the WHO Afro Region. In many countries, including Nigeria, 10 to 40 per cent of the population carries of sickle cell gene resulting in an estimated SCD prevalence of at least 2 per cent.
“Nigeria has about 25 per cent of its adult population carrying the defective sickle gene in a carrier state and WHO in 2015 estimated that two per cent of all new-borns in Nigeria are affected by sickle cell disease, giving a total of about 150,000 affected children born every year. About 50 per cent – 80 per cent of the estimated 150,000 infants born yearly with SCD in Nigeria die before the age of five years and those that manage to survive to suffer end organs damage, which shortens their lifespan including stroke,” Olowojebutu added.
He urged the government to come up with policies and plans and work with advocates for implementation, adding, however, that NGOs are picking the slack for the government.
Representing Nirvana Initiative, Bamidele Oyewumi, talked about the firm’s effort to ensure enabling environment and a fighting chance for people with Sickle cell disease. He said: “The Nirvana Initiative tries to ensure access of quality information about the disease and most importantly create enabling environment and safe space for all the warriors battling it.”
Other partners of the event included Sickle Cell Advocacy & Management Initiative (SAMI) and Xcene Research.