Lira
By: Charity Akullo
The Executive Director St Francis Hospital, Nsambya, in Kampala, Dr. Andrew Ssekitoleko, has tasked government to develop a national policy that enforces public screening for sickle cell.
Sickle Cell Disease (SCD), is an inherited blood disorder that affects the structure of red blood cells.
Dr. Ssekitoleko appealed to policy makers that there is need to develop a National policy for early detection and management.
He noted that the law should make it mandatory and enforces public screening, whereby every year everybody must be screened in addition to premarital test for sickle cell.
“We need a policy of screening high risk populations. Northern Uganda has the highest prevalence of the sickle cell strait to a tune of 21% compared to 4% of Kabale district in South Western Uganda. So this is a high risk region. We need a policy of screening this risk population,” the expert explained.
He revealed the skyrocketing numbers in northern region while giving his keynote address during the 6th Nursing Sickle Cell Conference organized by the Ministry of Health and Uganda Sickle Cell Rescue Foundation (USCRF) in Lira City.
Only a handful know their status
The available data indicates that 95% of Ugandans know their HIV status because they have tested, but only 1% of Ugandans know their sickle cell status because they are unable to access testing facilities.
Dr. Sekitoleko said there is need to move from 1% of Ugandans who know their status to 10% annually.
“This is what we must do. Tests must become easily available, everybody must join hands in making the test a priority,” he added.
Dr. Sekitoleko, revealed that Lango and Acholi sub-regions have highest prevalence of sickle cell rates and the government must do something quickly to address the problem.
“We need to go to schools and inculcate strong messages about sickle cell, so that a young child knows that it is very important to know their sickle cell status,” he explained further.
National Sickle Cell Coordinator at the Ministry of Health, Dr. Charles Kiyaga, said a baseline survey on sickle cell which was conducted by the Ministry of Health in 2015/2016 found out that sickle cell was very common in Lango sub-region and Alebtong District was leading in the whole Country.
“The national prevalence is 17% but Alebtong is at 23.8% which is over and above the national prevalence. So we need to wake up and do something otherwise this is something which is so worrying,” Dr Kiyaga said.
Scaling up treatment
The Commissioner for Non-communicable Diseases (NCD) in the Ministry of Health, Dr. Charles Oyoo, was glad to note that the Ministry has opened up sickle cell clinics at all Regional Referral Hospitals to offer free services to patients.
He said services offered includes testing of children and adults for sickle cell and medication which includes hydroxurea to reduce the pain the patients always go through.
He appealed to clan leaders to ensure that their children intending to get married must first go for sickle cell testing to avoid giving birth to children with sickle cell.
“Early detection is very important so we need to encourage adults intending to get married to first go for testing but in case they do not please take your children for testing,” Dr. Oyoo, advised.
Dr. William Oyang, the in-charge of sickle cell clinic at Lira regional Referral Hospital said that due to limited funding they only offer services twice in a month and encouraged sickle cell patients to always drink a lot of water.
Marrying from the same clan
The Chief Executive Officer of Uganda Sickle Cell, Rescue Foundation Daniel Roy Odur attributed the high number of sickle cell patients in Lango to marrying from the same clan.
Currently there are over 150 clans in Lango region but most of them have divided from the original clan.
“People are marrying their relatives from the same clans which were separated from each other that is why we have this problem of sickle cell because it is a genetically disorder,” Mr. Odur.
SCD results from a genetic mutation in the hemoglobin gene. Hemoglobin is the protein responsible for carrying oxygen in red blood cells.
In SCD, red blood cells become rigid and crescent-shaped (like a sickle) under certain conditions.
