Welsh Frowns against Stigmatisation of Sickle Cell Patients

A sickle cell anaemia survivor, Anne Welsh, has kicked against stigmatisation of people living with the disease, noting that it causes more health havoc on patients than expected.

Speaking during a press conference in Lagos recently, Welsh who is saddened by the lack of appropriate care and management of sickle cell anaemia in Nigeria, said government should put in place infrastructure and funding for management and treatment of the health issue. Welsh said living with sickle cell in Nigeria was very challenging as the country’s healthcare system lacks the appropriate and basic necessity needed to manage the blood disorder.

“Sickle cell does not only cause the patients to suffer severe pain, but it is also one of the biggest contributor to mental health issues due to stigmatisation, discrimination and victimisation of the patients, who are prevented from doing certain things like their normal counterparts.

“Sickle cell is an agonising thing. People don’t know the amount of pain patients undergo. They look normal outside, but have invisible pain within, which is so excruciating that they want to end their lives. Some patients keep asking their doctors to give them more pain killers because they can’t endure the pains,” she stressed. On how the illness can be managed, she said patients should take more water, eat good food their body craves for at any moment, engage in exercise and avoid stress. “A lot of people don’t know what sickle cell is and because of that, they seek remedies from religious houses, traditional homes and other places, which worsen their situation. The health sector needs to do more by creating awareness of this blood disease and giving the right treatment to people living with it to help them live longer,” she added. Welsh further emphasised the need for funding herbal medicines in the treatment and management of sickle cell, which she said helped sustained her whenever she experienced crisis from the illness.