Sickle Aid Ghana launched

Sickle Aid, a registered Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) based in Ghana was recently launched by a group of Ghanaians to promote awareness of Sickle Cell disease (SCD) through education and to reach out to people living with the disease across the country.
The NGO, Ida Adu, Executive Director of the group, said was registered in August 2009 with an eight member board of trustees to bring together affected people into a unified community as well as encourage Ghanaians to know their status with regards to the sickle cell disease.
Mrs. Adu who is diagnosed with the disease said a lot needed to be done to support especially children with sickle cell since some parents consider them witches and wizards and therefore neglect or do not regarded them as normal human beings.
She disclaimed misconceptions where many Ghanaians believe people with the disease do not live very long and therefore do not strive to support them through education, marriage or better living conditions which she noted send many sickle cell patients to an early grave.
“I am forty years old and yet being diagnosed with sickle cell did not prevent me from attaining a Master’s Degree or from getting married from which I have two children who do not have the disease; all they need is understanding and care,” she disclosed.
Giving in-depth information about the disease, Dr. Paul Mensah explained that though the disease was diagnosed in the 19th century many people do not know much about it yet many are sickle cell disease carriers.
He estimated that currently about half a million or two percent of the Ghanaian population if not more, have the disease or may be carriers.
Dr. Mensah stated that the formation of the disease is as a result of some disorders that affect the red blood cells or the hemoglobin which is responsible for carrying carbon dioxide and oxygen for respiration.
He explained that when both parents are carriers, that means have the hemoglobin (A) and sickle cell(S) and are therefore likely to give birth to a child or children with the sickle cell deficiency.
He advised that during premarital counseling, would-be couples should undergo screening and confirmatory tests in order for them to know their status and prepare themselves for the future.
Nutritionist, Eunice Berko also a board member educated people living with sickle cell disease to eat variety of foods but in smaller quantities every 10 to 20 minutes which would help protect the body since their immune system is weakened every minute of the day.
She advised them to seriously adopt balanced diets but avoid too salt and sugar and over cooking food saying steaming and poaching should be preferred because it retains nutrients.