By Kemo Cham
A Nigerian scientist, Professor Cyril Otoikhian, has vowed that the medical condition Sickle Cell can be eradicated through awareness raising.
Prof. Otoikhian, who is on a mission to dismantle a long held conception that the condition is an African disease, is using Sierra Leone to realize this daunting task with a campaign through his Foundation.
The goal of the academic is to discourage reproduction involving carriers of the sickle cell traits. He said this is only possible if people know their genotype and the importance of making the choice of marrying someone with a compatible genotype.
“Breaking link of genes is the only way out,” Prof. Otoikhian said at a lecture session last week in Freetown.
“Because people don’t know their genotype before the get married, that’s why they have children with the SS gene,” he added.
Sickle Cell is a condition involving a group of disorders that affect hemoglobin, the molecule in red blood cells that delivers oxygen to cells throughout the body. People with this disorder have reduced and distorted red blood cells which take the form of a sickle, or crescent shape.
The condition is hereditary, meaning it can only be transmitted from one’s parents. Parents with the dominant sickle cell genes are sure to have a child with the condition which manifests itself in various forms, including sickle cell anaemia, the most common form of the Sickle Cell Disease (SCD).
Prof. Otoikhian calls these disadvantaged genes.
“Knowledge of genotype is the only way and taking decision not to pair up disadvantage genes,” he said at the lecturer held on the theme: “Toward Sickle Cell Free Sierra Leone.”
Otoikhian, a Professor of genetics and animal breeding, lectures at Novena University in Ogume, Delta State, Nigeria. He is also the Founder and President the EO Foundation which is based in Edo State in southern Nigeria with the mission to care for poverty challenged persons and people living with genetic disorders like Sickle cell anaemia, cystic fibrosis, Down syndrome; and colour blindness.
The “Toward Sickle Cell Free Sierra Leone” is part of a larger goal to eradicate the condition in Africa, through his “Stop Sickle Cell in Africa” campaign, and the world at large. The campaign is being done in collaboration with the Concord Times Publication, Prince Harrison Foundation in Nigeria and the Nigerians In Diaspora Organization (NIDO) - Sierra Leone.
Prof. Otoikhian told the audience that misconception had led to the high prevalence of sickle cell on the continent and he lamented that this situation had given way to the perpetuation of the “racist” statement that Sickle Cell was an African disease. He also rejected the widely held belief that sickle cell sufferers couldn’t live beyond 20 years.
The Nigerian scientist said he chose Sierra Leone to launch his continental campaign, among many other reasons, because it’s the country where the first person with Sickle Cell was diagnosed.
Sierra Leone is also home to a large number of people living with sickle cell and yet the condition is not a priority for the government.
The Sierra Leone Sickle Cell Disease Society (SLSCDS) registered over 2000 people with the condition as of 2017.
During his six-day visit to the country which ended on Saturday, Prof. Otoikhian held consultations with officials in government and public health institutions, including Minister of Health Dr Alpha Tejan Wurie and the management of the 34 Military Hospital, which he said he intended to use as his based in the implementation of his project in the country.
Otoikhian said he had also been in talks with the Sickle Cell Society.
The public lecture brought together people living with sickle cell, scientists and other medical experts, journalists, among others.
At the event held at the headquarters of NIDO on Jomo Kenyatta Road in Brookfields, Prof. Otoikhian also unveiled Sierra Leonean model and sickle cell sufferer, Margaret Cassel as his Ambassador in the country.
He said he intended to use Cassel’s case to demonstrate that anyone can live with the condition as a normal person and up to old age.
Because people with sickle cell have reduced red blood cells, they tend to have low oxygen level in their blood. And because of the distorted shape of the blood cells, they occasionally get stuck in the blood vessels, causing periodic episodes of painful feelings. Sickle cell sufferers are also susceptible to repeated infections, due to a weak immune system. All this makes for a discomforting experience for many people living with the disease.
While his ultimate goal is to end the condition by preventing reproduction of offspring by parents with incompatible genotypes, Prof. Otoikhian’s mission also includes helping those already living with the condition do so with utmost ease, without crisis.
He said with proper management, which his foundation intends to provide, “people can live for as long as any other person.”
Among others, he intends to provide genotype test.
Genotype testing can be done within 10 minutes, yet it’s virtually unavailable in Sierra Leone.
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