The management of General Hospital Badagry has said it is doing everything possible to prioritise sickle cell patients, especially children, to reduce the suffering caused by attacks.

The medical director of the hospital, Oluseyi Adesola, gave the assurance in a statement issued on Thursday and signed by the spokesperson, Reuben Hobo.

Mr Adesola said that Sudabelt Medical Co. Ltd recently conducted a free sickle cell outreach for children aged 0 to 18 in Badagry.

He said 185 children and 130 adults benefited from the various screenings and received free medications, mosquito nets, meals and water.

“This gesture is a big relief to parents who spend fortunes to ensure their children survive the crisis that often terminates the lives of many children and adolescent youths before their prime.

“It also relieves the governments in terms of providing the funding to take care of children with sickle cell challenges in society.

“I, therefore, thank Sudabelt for the free outreach and other medical screenings and care extended to many adults without charges,” he said.

Also, Semande Amosu said the medical outreach offered solutions to the challenges around the birth of children with sickle cell, which are often wrongly attributed to fetishism.

“Such outreaches also help to explain genotypes and provide reasons why people with certain genotypes should not marry each other to avoid producing children with SS.

“For instance, couples should either be AA and AA, or AA and AS. An AS and AS pairing carries extreme risks and should be discouraged, while SS and SS couples should never marry under any circumstance.

“Free medical outreaches like this provide an eye-opener, guiding people on how to choose a partner who will make them live long and happily and produce healthy children,” he said. 

(NAN)