The fight against Sickle Cell Disease in Nigeria
Dr Yvonne Daniel of Viapath’s Special Haematology Department at Guy’s Hospital, recently took some time out of her normal routine to travel back to Nigeria to continue rolling out the screening programme for Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) in newborn babies.
SCD is a hereditary blood disorder whereby the red blood cells of the sufferer become rigid and misshapen. These cells become less efficient at carrying oxygen and their sickle shape means that they can become obstructive and block up vital blood vessels, causing potentially life-threatening complications including strokes and painful crises.
In England, approximately 300-350 babies per year are born with SCD. We have the privilege of a full screening programme and support here in the UK. However, in Nigeria it is estimated that 150,000 babies are born with the disease each year with a 50% chance of living past the age of 10.
In a population of approximately 175 million people, 25% are a carrier of the disease; if two carriers have a baby, there is a one in four chance of the baby having the condition.
Despite these rather staggering figures, until recently there was no formal screening programme in Nigeria for SCD.
Viapath’s Dr Yvonne Daniel has just returned from her first trip to Nigeria this year, to help Dr Baba Inusa of Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital progress the roll out of newborn screening for SCD in Nigeria.
During her most recent visit, Yvonne continued to train laboratory scientists to use the machines to screen for SCD, to interpret the results and implemented protocols and best practices to provide the most reliable test results possible. “It is important to build a network of expertise among the laboratory staff, to ensure that protocols are followed and reliable results are produced for patients” said Yvonne.
“150,000 Nigerian babies are born with SCD per annum so this is a hugely important screening project. I am grateful that Viapath has allowed me this opportunity and I have always felt the project was fully supported by the management team, who even donated an HPLC screening machine in the past”.
The achievement she is most proud of is adapting the testing protocol to cope with the samples behaving differently in the lab conditions in Nigeria. This enabled her to re-test historical samples (some of which hadn’t had a confirmed result a year after being taken) and get reliable results for 99% of patients.
Yvonne plans to return to Nigeria again to continue this important work and hopes for a similar programme to be rolled out in Tanzania.
Dr Chinatu Ohiaeri a paediatrician, Deputy Head of Clinical Services and co-ordinator of the SCD programme from the Federal Medical Centre in Keffi Nasarawa state in Nigeria wrote to thank the visiting team for their help and support.
