Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Princess Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, has called for concerted efforts to improve the country’s care for patients with Sickle Cell Disease.
Orelope-Adefulire explained that with Sickle Cell contributing to approximately 376,000 under-5 deaths annually, compared to 34,400 deaths from other causes, there is a pressing need for stakeholders to intensify efforts to reverse the trend.
In a statement issued by her media aide, Desmond Utomwen, she made this call to commemorate World Sickle Cell Day, with the theme: “Hope Through Progress: Advancing Sickle Cell Care Globally.” World Sickle Cell Day is observed on June 19 every year. It is an annual event to raise awareness about sickle cell disease globally.
According to her, a Lancet Haematology publication in August 2023 revealed that globally, between 2000 and 2021, the rate of children born with sickle cell disease increased by 13.7 percent, reaching an average of up to 515,000 babies per annum.
“The study also found that sickle cell-specific under-5 mortality was 11 times higher than deaths due to other causes, amounting to approximately 376,000 deaths from sickle cell disease annually compared to 34,400 deaths from other causes.
“In Nigeria, approximately one in four, or 25 percent, of Nigerians carries a sickle cell gene, meaning about 50 million people can transmit it to their children. We must act now to reverse this trend,” she stated.
Orelope-Adefulire further noted that the OSSAP-SDGs had demonstrated commitment by delivering a fully equipped, state-of-the-art Sickle Cell Care Centre at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH).
She expressed confidence that the Sickle Cell Centre, which was recently commissioned by Lagos State governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and other related interventions by OSSAP-SDGs, will contribute to achieving SDG 3.2 on reducing under-five mortality to 25 per 1,000 live births or less by 2030, as well as other cross-cutting SDGs.
“This aligns with the cardinal pillars on healthcare and empowerment in the Renewed Hope Agenda of the current administration,” she said.