Sickle Cell Awareness Day - Show Your Genotype Campaign

June 19th was the World Sickle Cell Awareness day and it was marked all over including in Nigeria. Naijadaydreamer on instagram shared pictures to promote awareness and also of what she had got up to in Nigeria. One of the advocacy drives calls for members of the public to show their genotype as shown above.

SCAF is the Sickle Cell Aid Foundation (SCAF) in Nigeria and say the aim of this campaign it to "sensitize people about Sickle Cell and persuade every Nigerian to know their genotype while also celebrating the lives of every Nigerian who is living with Sickle Cell Anaemia." I salute SCAF for their great work and this is my effort :)

#painttotherescue

SCAF adds that "to know one’s genotype is through a simple bold test and it is once and for all because genotypes do not change. You can do nothing about your genotype but you can do a whole lot about your child's. Knowing your genotype and acting accordingly is not an unnecessary inconvenience- it's practicable commonsense and contributory sacrifice. On this day, we join the rest of the world as it marks the Sickle-cell day. And for us at SCAF, today is more than a day for warning, education and instruction- it's a commitment to everyone living with Sickle Cell Anaemia that irrespective of one’s genotype, everyone has an equal chance to lead healthy fulfilling and complete lives especially when people living with sickle cell are taken care of and catered for effectively."

In addition to marking the World Sickle Cell Day via the campaign on social media called “Show Your Genotype”, SCAF also held and planned more activities for Sickle Cell Soldiers and those that love them. The poster below is a charity bike show for those in Abuja.

other #scaf event pictures

Naijadaydreamer (left)

Sickle Cell soldiers

In their statement to Saharareporters, there are some interesting facts and more information about Sickle Cell as it concerns Nigeria.

Nigeria has always recorded the highest number of sickle cell cases in the world and it is still in arithmetical rise. Every day in Nigeria, more than 410 children are born with sickle cell anemia and most of them die before their 5th birthday. The life expectancy of a Nigerian living with sickle cell is much limited to the health care available to him or her that is why SCAF took the duty on itself to support every Nigerian living with Sickle Cell to ensure that they have the highest quality of healthcare even when financing healthcare is a challenge.

But to tackle Sickle Cell Anaemia, awareness is key. Very many have walked (and sadly still walk) down the aisle without knowing their genotypes and whether they are compatible with their partners. Some are too much in love. Some are careless. And others don't just know. Whatever their reasons, the fabrics of their lives all share a common thread of grave risk and potential pain. And the sad part is, the bulk of the risk would be borne by an innocent, unborn child. Some people think that in the era of HIV, Cancer and Hepatitis, Sickle-Cell anaemia is not serious as is claimed. We at SCAF say different: We say it's a pretty big deal to raise a child whose bodily resistance to diseases is already heavily degraded before the fact. We say it's a big deal to leave under the Damoclesian sword of uncertainty on a road paved with pain crises. We say it's a big deal to have more than 150,000 babies born every year in Nigeria with Sickle Cell Anaemia. So does the rest of the world