Laments country epicentre of global sickle cell anaemia
From Laide Raheem, Abeokuta
A Professor of Biophysical Chemistry, Prof Najeem Babarinde, has called for the enactment of enabling law making pre-marital Genotype Compatibility Test (GCT) compulsory for intending couples.
Babarinde, who raised the alarm that Nigeria has been reckoned as the global epicentre of sickle cell anaemia following its surging population, disclosed that research has put the birth figure in the country as falling between 100,000 to 150,000 sickle-celled babies every year, warning that the number represents about 30% of the annual global sickle cell birth rate.
Worried that about 50 to 80% of the estimated 150,000 infants born yearly in Nigeria with sickle cell disease die before they attain age five, he insisted that only the enactment of an enabling law to make pre-marital GCT compulsory can curb the surge of babies born with sickle cell anaemia.
The don made this known while delivering his lecture titled, ‘The Molecules Within Us: Structure, Survival and Society,’ during the 113th inaugural lecture of the Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU) Ago Iwoye, Ogun State.
According to him, a compulsory GCT would ensure that children with sickle cell anaemia were not born.
He added that it would also checkmate the criminal and unethical practice of child swapping in the labour room by unscrupulous paramedics.
“Government should make the pre-marital Genotype Compatibility Test (GCT) compulsory. A law should be enacted to make the pre -marital Genotype Compatibility Test compulsory. Such genotype compatibility tests will ensure that children suffering from sickle cell anaemia are not born,” the don submitted.
