This Week in Sickle Cell News October 26th to November 2nd

By Sean Marshall




Interesting news this week from allafrica.com. According to an article published on the 30th of October the Nigerian MTN federation is training genetic counselors nationwide. According to the article the MTN Foundation which is the Corporate Social Responsibility vehicle of Nigeria's leading Information and Communication Technology Company, “has facilitated the training of 336 sickle cell disorder genetic counselors nationwide.”




It went on to explain that the Foundation in partnership with the Sickle Cell Foundation of Nigeria “provides training for health caregivers in order to enhance delivery of specialized care in the management of sickle cell disorder in Nigeria.” They then can use this training to better combat sickle cell disease around the content not only saving lives but taking pressure off of other medical facilities that might not be able to treat sickle cell as effectively.



Speaking at the graduation ceremony of Batch 17 trainee healthcare counselors comprising medical doctors, nurses and other caregivers, MTNF Director, Dennis Okoro said that, “prevention of the disorder through carrier identification, genetic counseling and prenatal diagnosis, remains the best measure to stem sickle cell anemia.”

It was also mentioned by the Chairman of the Sickle Cell Foundation of Nigeria, Prof. Olu Akinyanju, that the training, which is organised biannually, “builds capacity for the management and control of sickle cell disorder, which is a crucial goal of the Foundation in Nigeria.”

Lastly it was explained that the “MTNF currently supports sickle cell clinics in Lagos, Edo, Delta and Kano States and provides free drugs and counseling services.”

If you would like to visit the main site to get all the details click on the link: http://allafrica.com/stories/201410310818.html




Other news this week involved an article from zawya.com this particular online news agency posted an article on the 26th of October outlining the increasing efforts made by the people of Bahrain to to control sickle cell disease.




According to the report, “the leading oncologists and hematologist from Bahrain, on the 26th at the Novartis Oncology supported Sickle-Cell disease conference.” The main idea was to share the latest global practices in the management of sickle cell disease.


Other aspects covered how many the main team felt about what was going on. Some quotes given included, “our patients are our priority and the conference helped us bring together our collective expertise to highlight the different ways through which we can help them.” While others takled what they had hoped to accomplish in the future. “Increasing efforts are being undertaken by us at the Hereditary Blood Disorder Management Centre to control the rising disease complications through targeted approach and the conference is one of the many such measures being undertaken by us," said Dr. Jaffer Al Tooq - Team Leader, SCD management at Hereditary Blood Disorder Centre at Salmaniya Medical Complex .




Ultimatly the article pointed out what the conference saw, which included experts highlighting such topics as “the efforts which are being undertaken to reduce the incidence of SCD in Bahrain and identify various measures through which these efforts can be maximized to achieve better results.”

If you would like more information go to the link: http://www.zawya.com/story/Increasing_efforts_are_being_undertaken_by_experts_to_control_Sickle_Cell_Disease_in_Bahrain_providing_hope_for_patients-ZAWYA20141026113652/




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