Francisca Oteng Mensah
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament (MP) for Kwabre East, Francisca Oteng Mensah, has called on the government to dedicate more funds for research into sickle cell disease to help reduce the risk of the disease in the country.
According to the Kwabre East MP, research would not only help health personnel to tackle the sickle cell disease head-on for better treatment and cure but would also give policy direction and information dissemination to Ghanaians to help fight the disease.
Ms Oteng Mensah made the call in a statement in parliament to mark this year’s World Sickle Cell Day on Tuesday.
The Kwabre East MP also called for an up-to-date national data registry on all affected persons or patients, which she said would empower medical practitioners with the needed information to develop a plan of action to track and manage the disease.
She said that in Ghana, 18,000 babies are born each year with sickle cell disease but unfortunately 50 percent of these sickle babies die before they reach the age of five.
“Early diagnosis allows medical doctors to provide measures for primary prevention such as penicillin prophylaxis, routine childhood vaccinations while family members would also take quick action to detect and manage the disease,” Ms Oteng Mensah stated.
According to her, there are several problems associated with the disease which include damage to the lungs, heart, kidney, liver and eyes, stroke, leg ulcers, lack of oxygen and other forms of infection.
“Mr Speaker, on every 19th of June each year, the world observes World Sickle Cell Day. I would like to suggest that we should not wait till 19th June, every year before we create awareness and increase people’s knowledge about the disease. We need all hands on deck as Ghanaians to fight against the sickle cell disease,” she said.
The MP has, therefore, called on the Ministry of Health and other stakeholders such as Sickle Cell Anaemia Foundation (Ghana) to regularly visit schools, churches, mosques, workplaces, football clubs and other social groups to create awareness and educate people on the disease.
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament for Daffiama/Bussie/Issa, Dr Sebastian Ngmenenso Sandaare, for his part, advised that “we must think about our health and that of our family first before we think about love so I want to advise lovers who are planning to get married to go for sickle cell test and if both are found to be AS or AC, it would be better for them to abandon their plans to marry and give birth because there is that likelihood to have children with sickle cell disease.”
By Thomas Fosu Jnr