Lagos State Ministry of Health Sickle Cell Control Programme Coordinator, Dr. Olajumoke Oyenuga, has revealed that plans are on to formulate a policy on sickle cell disorder (SCD), which affects over four million Nigerians.
Oyenuga noted at a media workshop at the Sickle Cell Foundation, Nigeria (SCFN) in Lagos that the state government has a policy on SCD. She added that work on this has not been concluded.
She stated that a committee on SCD was inaugurated earlier this year and plans are ongoing to produce a comprehensive work plan for management of the disorder in the state.
She further acclaimed that a technical team, which includes academicians and health experts on SCD has also been set aside by the committee and by the time this is concluded and presented to the governor, more activities on the project would spread all over the state.
“All these activities are part of the developmental process to make sure we implement the proposed policy,” she added.Oyenuga, who represented the health commissioner, said that part of the activities the policy would highlight on if eventually implemented is pre-natal diagnosis and free screening in the state’s health facilities, among others,” she said.
“This is still an ongoing work and I cannot precisely give you a time frame, but as soon as this is confirmed by the technical team, it would be communicated,” she added.
She reaffirmed that the state’s health facilities offer treatment, diagnosis and capacity building for both patients and health care givers respectively. “And at the ministry level, we have produced information materials which we distributed to health facilities and individuals,” she said.
