A Consultant Neurologist at University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH), Prof Abdulwasiu Abdulwahab, has called on federal government to promulgate laws to protect people living with sickle cell anaemia.
Abdulwahab made the call yesterday in Ilorin during a Genotype Seminar organised by the youth wing of Kwara branch of Federation of Muslim Women Association in Nigeria (FOMWAN).
The neurologist said Sickle Cell Foundation in Nigeria had been agitating that people living with the ailment should be accorded utmost priority.
According to him, the law, when fully enacted and implemented, will not only cater for the needs of sufferers but will lead to its reduction in the country.
Abdulwahab described Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) as the most common blood disorder in the world which required daily care and could cause major problems and long-term disability.
He commended FOMWAN for organising the seminar on genotype, saying: “if we look at the ramifications of not testing the genotype before going into marriage, then we would appreciate this seminar because it came at the right time.
“Sickle Cell is a big problem and people should forget what we usually hear that `love is blind’ because  love should not be blind when we have knowledge.
“If someone has sickle cell aneamia, the person is already carrying the two genes and is going to manifest with disease.”
In her lecture at the event, Dr Aishat Otuyo of Sobi Specialist Hospital, Alagbado, Ilorin, advised parents to always encourage
their children who attained marriageable age to consider genotype screening before marriage.
She advised the current generation should not be sentimental about the choice of partners, adding that they should consider the health implication so as to breed healthy generations.
Dr Barakat Raji of Faculty of Law, University of Ilorin, also enjoined potential couples to give priority attention to the issue of genotype before marriage.