The Senate has moved to make Genotype test compulsory for couples in the wake of increasing cases of Sickle Cell disease in the country. On Tuesday, a Bill for an Act to Provide for Compulsory Haemogloibin-Genotype Testing and for other connected matters scaled second reading. The bill was sponsored by Sen. Ahmed Ogembe.
According to Vanguard, "the bill seeks to provide for compulsory Haemoglobin-Genotype screening before a marriage is conducted under the Marriage Act and before registration of new births under the Birth, Death etc Compulsory Registration Act"
The sponsor of the Bill while making his presentation on the floor of the Senate stated that “We simply want to avoid human anxiety, pains and death as related to Sickle Cell disease. We want to improve the lives of often forgotten citizens who live with it. Unknown to many, it is one of the biggest public health problems in Nigeria. Nigeria from reports is known to have the greatest number of sickle cell disease in the world".
“The picture is brought into sharper focus when we consider the finding by the American Centre for Disease Control and Prevention that slightly above 300,000 babies globally are born with sever sickle cell diseases. 225,000 are born in Sub-Sahara Africa, representing 75 per cent of the global figure".
He noted that the "Bill, when passed, will reduce the incidence of the disease to the barest minimum in our nation and allow families to live in joy. Research has shown that only five per cent of children born with sickle cell disease live past the age of 10 years in Nigeria,”
Sen. Ogembe also lamented that Sickle Cell disease was a lifelong ailment that could be avoided with proper awareness. He stressed that it would be unfair to bring children into the world to live in unbearable pain. He called on the Senate to pass the Bill to address this challenge.
