SDGs; Globalizing Sickle Cell Advocacy towards Addressing the Scourge,
By Abubakar Yusuf
The UN Sustainable Development Goals SDGs in accordance with its 17 goals had strived to ensure the impact of the UN provided goals is felt both at the national , sub national and global levels.
Hence, the quest to address the decade of action 2010-2030 agenda had become a major drive towards addressing all the goals in line with global pursuit and domestic requirements.
In Nigeria under the leadership of Princess Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire as Senior Special Assistant on the program, soon after the migration from Millennium Development Goals MDGs to Sustainable Development Goals SDGs after the proclamation at the United Nations General Assembly UNGA in 2016, set in motion efforts both in administrative and political will to ensure the goals became an achievable trend.
Towards this end, the SDGs had set up in motion machineries not to only redeem the global expectations , but fully domesticated the 17 goals to detach the country from its negative consequences.
In the pursuit to achieve all the goals in line with the global expectations, it had launched an expanded Evaluation Report on its Goals 3 and 4 in 2022, geared towards consolidating and achieving required results on Health and Education in Nigeria.
Having achieved the global and domestic provision through the launch “Evaluation Report “in one of the two critical areas of the 17 goals, that bordered on social security and welfare , the need to consolidate on both critical goals cannot be overlooked.
This led to the management of SDGs under Princess Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire from her unstoppable and uninterrupted actions of providing about 40, 100 bedded hospitals and centres to all nooks and crannies of the country, which included the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory FCT, Abuja.
The need for a global focus and campaigns against the sickle cell diseases prevalent in Nigeria with Africa as mostly affected was occasioned by the negative consequences of the gene related ailments, that is capable of attracting controls through concerted measures and controls of the existing ones.
Therefore, setting aside this years Sickle Cell day usually held on June, 19, 2024 was not only meant to domesticate the threatening scourge, but raise both local and international awareness so as to attract global attention and actions.
With her initiatives, the need to place sickle cell disease under the exclusive list of the government at all levels and international attention cannot be overemphasized.
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With 376,000 deaths of carriers under 5 years of Sickle Cell diseases against other ailments with 34,000 deaths desired urgent attention on the part of both government, private sector and the international communities.
With efforts to reverse the trend , it is obvious that this years program with its theme “Hope through progress, Advancing Sickle Cell Globally ” was geared towards given special attention by all stakeholders and the global communities and expectations.
With a verified records showing an annual increment trend and record of out of 515,00 children beared every year culled in August, 2023 , 13.7 percent of children from 1-4 years are carriers of Sickle Cell amounting to 250 percent carrying sickle cell gene and by extension 50 Million Nigerians can transmit Sickle Cell, the dreaded disease transmitted out of ignorance.
“The study also revealed that sickle cell-specific under-5 mortality was 11 times higher than deaths due to other causes, amounting to approximately 376,000 deaths from sickle cell disease annually compared to 34,400 deaths from other causes. She added that in Nigeria, approximately one in four, or 25 percent, of Nigerians carries a sickle cell gene, meaning about 50 million people can transmit the gene to their children.”
With the negative trend been sustained over the years out of ignorance, the need for government policy thrust and framework to address the growing scourge of Sickle Cell disease through an emergency declaration under the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was desiring.
On its part , the SDGs in Nigeria have taken the front row and established the Sickle Cell centre at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital LUTH ,and as a context of its activities, no doubt gradually the centre is expected to go round the Nigeria hospitals.
Having passed a vote of confidence on the activities of SDGs in Nigeria in December, 2023 in view of its contributions to the health sector, the Committee of Chief Medical Directors, Medical Directors of Federal Teaching Hospitals CCMDMDFTH , along with state government at the sub national level, no doubt, the new approach towards resolving the growth and control of the Sickle Cell disease is already by the corner.
With these efforts locally and internationally, it is expected that a 3.2 percent reduction of under 5 Mortality to 250%, or by 1000 live births or less by 2030 along with cross cutting edges and SDGs interventions.
Having achieved this through awareness and sensitization, the SDGs was already operating on the template and cardinal pillars on health care and empowerment been addressed by the present administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu under his Renewed Hope Agenda.
Written BY ABUBAKAR YUSUF on [email protected].
