Sensitise people about sickle cell disease
JUST recently, a man in Kamuli beat up his wife for “bringing sickle cell in the home.†When local council leaders and neighbours intervened, he bluntly told them his wife was responsible because there were no such diseases in his clan. In other places, giving birth to an albino is a bad omen i
Geoffrey Namukoye
JUST recently, a man in Kamuli beat up his wife for “bringing sickle cell in the home.†When local council leaders and neighbours intervened, he bluntly told them his wife was responsible because there were no such diseases in his clan. In other places, giving birth to an albino is a bad omen in the family.
It is a pity that when such misfortunes unfold, the ignorant women take the blame yet it takes two to tango. These are health issues the populace needs to be sensitised on. Ignorance coupled with neglect in taking proactive steps against sickle cell anaemia has seen many children fall victim to the disease.
Research findings reveal that about 25,000 babies are born with sickle cell anaemia in Uganda annually. It is lamentable that up to 80% of these hardly live beyond their fifth birthday.
As though that is not bad enough, some families have been stigmatised by being labelled sickle cell carriers to the extent that getting a marriage partner from them is considered risky.
Sickle cell anaemia is a genetic blood disorder, where red blood cells responsible for carrying oxygen in the body due to mutation become sickle-shaped (like a sickle blade used for cutting grass).
While normal red blood cells are smooth and round, sickle cells are too stiff and sticky to easily move through the blood stream. In worse case scenarios, abnormal cells get blocked in blood vessels causing severe pain.
Now that sickle cell anaemia is a genetic disease that only manifests itself in children, whose (both) parents possess the sickle cell gene, self-awareness through blood tests is the cheapest preventative way against transferring sickle cell genes to children.
This literarily means that people with sickle cell genes should avoid marrying each other, because the chances of having children with sickle cell anaemia will always be very high. This can be overcome through genetic testing and counselling.
Testing in Uganda goes for an average of sh30,000. People who inherit sickle cell genes from one parent and a normal gene from the other parent lead normal lives, but remain carriers of the sickle cell gene. Remember, prevention is the best cure.
The writer is a development worker in Kamuli
JUST recently, a man in Kamuli beat up his wife for “bringing sickle cell in the home.†When local council leaders and neighbours intervened, he bluntly told them his wife was responsible because there were no such diseases in his clan. In other places, giving birth to an albino is a bad omen in the family.
It is a pity that when such misfortunes unfold, the ignorant women take the blame yet it takes two to tango. These are health issues the populace needs to be sensitised on. Ignorance coupled with neglect in taking proactive steps against sickle cell anaemia has seen many children fall victim to the disease.
Research findings reveal that about 25,000 babies are born with sickle cell anaemia in Uganda annually. It is lamentable that up to 80% of these hardly live beyond their fifth birthday.
As though that is not bad enough, some families have been stigmatised by being labelled sickle cell carriers to the extent that getting a marriage partner from them is considered risky.
Sickle cell anaemia is a genetic blood disorder, where red blood cells responsible for carrying oxygen in the body due to mutation become sickle-shaped (like a sickle blade used for cutting grass).
While normal red blood cells are smooth and round, sickle cells are too stiff and sticky to easily move through the blood stream. In worse case scenarios, abnormal cells get blocked in blood vessels causing severe pain.
Now that sickle cell anaemia is a genetic disease that only manifests itself in children, whose (both) parents possess the sickle cell gene, self-awareness through blood tests is the cheapest preventative way against transferring sickle cell genes to children.
This literarily means that people with sickle cell genes should avoid marrying each other, because the chances of having children with sickle cell anaemia will always be very high. This can be overcome through genetic testing and counselling.
Testing in Uganda goes for an average of sh30,000. People who inherit sickle cell genes from one parent and a normal gene from the other parent lead normal lives, but remain carriers of the sickle cell gene. Remember, prevention is the best cure.
The writer is a development worker in Kamuli