By Grace Damulak.
The Plateau State Government is to establish a State Sickle Cell Registry and expand access to treatment services as part of efforts to improve care for persons living with sickle cell disease.
Commissioner for Health, Dr. Nicholas Baamlong, made this known during a press briefing to commemorate this year’s World Sickle Cell Day, with the theme, “Closing the Survival Gap: Equity in Sickle Cell Care.”
Dr. Baamlong said the establishment of the registry under the Ministry’s Non-Communicable Disease Desk would strengthen planning, surveillance and evidence-based decision-making.
He noted that Nigeria records about 150,000 births with sickle cell disease annually, while historical records from the Plateau State Specialist Hospital indicated that prevalence among paediatric patients rose from 25.8 to 28.1 per 1,000 between 2012 and 2014, even though the case fatality rate declined from 15.4 per cent to 10.3 per cent.
The Commissioner acknowledged concerns over misuse of opioids among some sickle cell patients, stressing that inadequate pain control and poor access to healthcare were major factors.
According to him, the state government, in collaboration with the Plateau State Contributory Healthcare Management Agency, PLASCHEMA, will expand health insurance coverage for pain management and other essential sickle cell services to ensure that cost does not prevent patients from receiving treatment.
Dr. Baamlong said the state would integrate newborn screening into routine maternal and child health services, strengthen genotype testing and premarital counselling, improve access to essential medicines and vaccines, and train healthcare workers to provide quality care.
The Commissioner urged citizens to know their genotype, seek counselling before marriage, ensure early screening for newborns, reject stigma and support voluntary blood donation.
Edited by Karen keyen
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