…we lost two members, brothers – State Coordinator
From Olanrewaju Lawal,Birnin Kebbi
Wife of the Kebbi State Governor, Hajia Zainab Nasare Nasir Idris has vowed to support Kebbi State Sickle Cell Association (KESCA) with necessary drugs, health care and financial support especially the female warriors among them.
Governor’s wife stated this while speaking at the KESCA secretariat in Birnin Kebbi during the celebration of International Child day with Sickle Cell Disorder entitled; “ Our time is now ,Our Rights, Our Future.
Zainab Idris, represented by the Special Adviser to the Governor on women Affairs, Hajia Fatimah Mohammed explained that the female sickle cell warriors deserved special attention in schools, hospitals and public places.
According to her, “this year celebration is a big reminder to all of us that there is something we all need to pay attention to. Because, this is a life threatening disease, which affect a girl child more than anybody.
“We have started supporting KESCA because they are among less privilege. We have started providing them with foods , support the organization with adequate sensitization, texting and providing necessary drugs for them.
“The Government would come in by providing them with routine drugs for those that were found to be sick. Because most of the children affected are the children of the needy. I think members of the association should also be a vanguard of the advocacy that members of the public could be carriers as well and may not be sick. So, they must take issue of texting their genotype and blood group before their marriage seriously.
“I have said it, in some parts of Kebbi state, the Ulama’s have always insisted on texting before any marriage. I thing, this should be enforced”, she said.
Earlier, the State Coordinator of the KESCA,Hajia Khadija Yahya Shantali said that despite the fact that the world was celebrating child day, the sickle child warriors should also be celebrated.
She said that: “girl child faces of a lot of challenges from the schools, it is not easy to be competing with their boys’ counterpart in the schools. In the working places, sickle cell warriors get discriminated and this adds to the burden of being a sickle cell persons. Special focuses should be placed on the girl child especially those with sickle cell because they carries too burden, being a female child and sickle cell carrier at the same time.
“They are facing stigmatization and discrimination of being a female child with sickle cell. So, special attention should be given to them. We need to plead to the communities and our society to accept them and treat them nicely.”
She appealed to the Government to support them financially and emotionally.
“We need your support. Individual with sickle cell started their journey from the six months old of their lives before routine drugs becomes part of our lives. It’s has become our daily routine, our oxygen, we must take it which many of us could not afford it. Those of us who could afford it, it’s becomes an emotional burden to our parents, financial burden.
“So, we are pleading to the government to always consider us in their programmes. We are pleading to the government to support us in our advocacy activities so that this could go round the towns and villages in the state.
“We are also seeking support to purchase additional full blow machines to our existing labs. We do malarial text, genotype text but we don’t have full blood machine. Because, that machine is too expensive. We shall be visiting House of Assembly to pass our sickle cell loan bill seeking to get loan to our members to assist our members. We are looking forward to the establishment of the sickle cell Centers in other Communities across the state.
“We are pleading to the Government to plead to the Hospitals management and staff on their attitude towards the sickle cell patients and other patients. One bad attitude could lead to the death of many patients in the hospitals. I have lost many of my members, I have lost two of my brothers, I have lost many members. Last week, we lost a member at FMC because there was no oxygen nearby when the patient developed heart attacks. So, this is very serious disease and we hope the government would surely come to our aid.
“The Government had started listen to us because just a mere invitation to them, they responded immediately and we hope they will continue like this”, she said.