Doctors root for target screening for Sickle Cell

By Christopher Bendana

Kampala

Doctors root for target screening for Sickle Cell

Sickle Cell screening for intending couples, the youth, and new borns can help reduce or eradicate Sickle Cell in Uganda, doctors argued on Tuesday.

“You can only get Sickle Cell disease when both parents carry the Sickle Cell gene,” Ruth Namazzi, a pediatric hematologist at Mulago Hospital Sickle Cell Clinic said during a presentation on Tuesday.

Presenting a paper, Sickle Cell Disease: Clinical care, prevention, and advocacy for sickle cell at the Food Science Conference Hall in Makerere University, Namazzi highlighted the importance of intending couples testing for Sickle Cell before marriage.

“You make an informed decision based on the results. For us we believe that once partners know that they are both carriers, they won’t marry, just like with HIV. By doing this you are preventing the spread of the disease,” she said.

Sickle Cell is a hereditary blood disorder disease that affects one’s whole lifespan affecting many of the body parts, especially the spleen, and kidney.

However, modern treatment and technologies like gene therapy and bone marrow transplants have reduced deaths significantly, especially in the Global rich north.

However, the disease is more prevalent in the Global South especially here in Africa.

Namazzi further said that they have improved the screening capacity by training general doctors and healthcare givers at the country’s major referral hospitals.

“Mothers should request for Sickle Cell screening after delivery at a public health center,” she said.

She advised patients to have a healthy diet and keep hydrated.

Prof Annette Nakimuli, a gynecologist, and dean, School of Medicine, Makerere University reechoed the importance of couples testing so that carriers don’t get married.

“The mother is likely to get complications, the baby is likely to get complications,” she said.

Prof Barnabas Nawangwe the Vice Chancellor, Makerere University, and guest of honor, called on Africans to take the lead in finding a solution to Sickle Cell since it was mainly affecting Africans.

Rev. Francis Osire, an Anglican priest and  member of the Inter-Religious Council of Uganda promised to engage Archbishop Stephen Kazimba Mugalu of the Church of Uganda promoting the idea of couples testing before marriage.

Uganda has one of the highest Sickle Cell prevalence rates on the continent below only DRC and Nigeria.

One in thirteen Ugandans carry the Sickle Cell gene with the Eastern and Northern regions having higher figures than the rest of the country according to Mulago Hospital Sickle Cell Clinic.

20,000 babies are born with the disease every year, and only 40% make it to their fifth birthday.

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