NGO to organise sickle cell awareness for FCT students

A non-governmental organisation based in the Federal Capital Territory, Eyum Sickle Cell Anemia Foundation (ESCAF), is set to organise a campaign about sickle cell disorder for students in Abuja.

The founder of the group, Audu Sandra Eyum, during a pre-event media conference in Abuja, said the programme was aimed at creating awareness about sickle cell disorder, its prevention and management for both senior secondary school students and residents of the territory.

She said the campaign would be part of activities to mark the United Nations World Sickle Cell Awareness Day slated for June 19.

She added that the awareness would encourage victims of the ailment to have a positive attitude to life as well as create data base for information management and sharing.

Eyum, however, lamented the high cost of treatment and management of sickle cell disorder, just as she stressed the importance of counselling in the management of the disease.

Earlier, a Deputy Director in the Health Secretariat of the Federal Capital Territory Administration, Nkechi Ezeudu, a pharmacist, also identified lack of proper awareness as one of the major challenges of sickle cell disorder in the country, revealing that the current trend for the treatment of the disease was nutrition integrated with faith.