President’s wife tasks Katsina Govt to educate people on Sickle Cell

dimeji akinloye

January 21, 2016 8:42 PM

She advised that the sickle-cell enlightenment campaign should be carried out on monthly basis to reduce the spread of the disease.

President's wife Aisha Buhari

The President’s Wife, Hajiya Aisha Buhari, has tasked the Katsina State Government to embark on enlightenment campaign on the dangers of sickle-cell for the benefit of the people.

Mrs Buhari stated this during the screening and treatment of 2,000 sickle-cell patients on Thursday in Katsina.

According to her, the North West sub-region has the highest rate of people suffering from the disease in the country.

"There is the need for officials of the Ministry of Health to encourage people to conduct genotype screening so as to know their status,’’ she said.

The president’s wife called on intending couple to conduct genotype test before wedding so as to mitigate the spread of the disease.

Buhari said that she was in Katsina to give support and assistance to the less privileged suffering from the disease.

Earlier, the state Commissioner for Health, Hajiya Mariyatu Usman, said that the state was facing dearth of medical personnel.

She said that the government had only 122 medical doctors, 894 nurses, 409 midwives and 65 pharmacists in its employment.

The commissioner said that 3,480 health personnel were needed to man public hospitals and clinics in the state, but had only 1,740 with a deficit of 1,765 personnel.

Mariyatu said that the government planned to recruit more health personnel to assist in providing healthcare delivery in the state.

At the palace of the Emir of Katsina, the President’s wife, appealed to the Emir and other traditional rulers in the region to assist in the enlightenment campaign on sickle-cell disease.

The Emir, Alhaji Abdulmumini Kabir, assured Mrs Buhari of his total support and cooperation to mitigate the spread of sickle-cell in the state.

dimeji akinloye