Ghanaians urged to know their sickle status before selecting partners

Charlotte Owusu, Founder of the Sickle Cell Condition Advocates (SICCA), has advised people to know their sickle status before selecting partners for marriage.

“It is important to know if you have sickle cell traits because it means you and your partner may require genetic counseling prior to having a child together.

“Different aspects of the disease make dating more complicated. However, people with Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) are not inferior partners, and most dating problems are caused by the partner’s lack of readiness and understanding.

“Healthy relationships can be a source of comfort and emotional support for people with SCD,” Owusu said when Ghana joined the global community to mark the 2023 Sickle Cell Awareness Day.

She explained that about 85 percent of children with Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) in the world were from Africa, and it raises a call for Africans to fight for its prevention.

The theme for World Sickle Cell Awareness Day 2023 was, “Building and Strengthening Global Sickle Cell Communities, Formalizing Newborn Screening, and Knowing Your Sickle Cell Disease Status.”

Owusu explained that World Sickle Cell Awareness Day was observed on June 19 every year to raise awareness about SCD and its impact on individuals, families, and communities worldwide.

She said sickle cell disease is a genetic blood disorder in which abnormal red blood cells take on a crescent or sickle shape, and these irregularly shaped cells cause blockages in blood vessels, resulting in various health problems.

Owusu emphasized that the aim of the celebration was to raise awareness about the challenges faced by sickle cell disease patients and how efforts could be made to make the diagnosis and treatment for the disease more accessible.

She explained that sickle cell disorder could cause anaemia, severe bone, joint, chest, and abdominal pain, jaundice, repeated infection, ulcer, delay in growth, damage to some organs, and stroke, amongst others,

“Sickle cell is a lifelong disease without a cure, which is why we are bent on advocating for prevention through pre-conception screening since prevention is a cure,” she said.

Owusu said there were already, some barriers to quality health care services in Ghana, which make it imperative for people to prevent getting the disease.

“The lack of SCD clinics and health care workers like Genetic Counsellors, Doctors, Laboratory technologists, and Health Educators with treatment protocols and training modules for holistic management in most hospitals to provide specialist care for sickle cell disease are some barricades to quality health care services,” she noted.

Kweku Kwarteng Yeboah, a sickle cell patient, said the average health cost of patients with sickle cell could pose physical, social, and emotional stress that could affect their families.

He reiterated the need for the next generation of youth to know their sickle status before selecting partners for marriage.

He also called on the Government to consider the cost of caring for people with sickle cell disease, as it would reduce a huge burden on the general healthcare system that could be reinvested into other areas of importance.