Cleric Tasks Intending Couples On Genotype

A Catholic priest, Rev.Fr.
Pascal Opara, has advised intending couples to ascertain their genotype before marriage
Opara, the Administrator, Mater Dei Cathedral Parish, Umuahia, gave the advice during a public enlightenment/sensitisation talk on the 2016 World Sickle Cell Day celebration.
He said that although the disease was not an impediment to marriage, it was imperative for prospective couples to appreciate the health challenges associated with it.
“The church always advised intending couples to know their genotype and HIV status before marriage.
“Some time ago, I advised an intending couple to go for their genotype and when they came back, they were both ‘AS’.
“I advised them to call off the marriage but they said that sickle cell was not their portion and insisted they were going ahead with the marriage,” Opara said.
He said that although he conceded and wedded them, he was worried about the health dangers that their children might have to face all their lives.
In his brief talk, the Chairman, Association of Catholic Physicians of Nigeria, Umuahia Diocese, Dr Godwin Okafor, described sickle cell anaemia as “a disease of the black race and an inherited disorder of the red blood cells.
“This means that it is transmitted from parents to children,  for parents to transmit the disease, a child must receive two sickle cell genes-one from each parent,” he said.
Okafor, a consultant with Federal Medical Centre, Umuahia, said that no fewer than 150,000 babies were born with the disease every year with estimated four million Nigerians with traits of the disease.
Okafor said that the theme of this year’s celebration, tagged, “Bone marrow transplant-cure and possibilities for sickle cell disorder,” helps to draw global attention to the possibilities of a cure for the disease.
“It also raises the hope that sickle cell patients can live normal, pain-free lives like other people without frequent visits to the hospital and attendant stigma-tisation,” he said.