Nigeria should drive home-grown sickle cell solutions – Foundation

The Sickle Cell Foundation Nigeria has called for greater Nigerian leadership in developing and implementing home-grown solutions to the challenges of sickle cell disease.
The National Director and Chief Executive Officer of the foundation, Dr Annette Akinsete, made the call at the official launch of OneSCD, a global partnership to advance equity and transform sickle cell care, held at the United Nations Headquarters in New York during the 81st United Nations General Assembly.
According to a statement on Tuesday, Akinsete hinged the call on the country’s experience, institutions and expertise to help shape the global response to the disease.
According to the Sickle Cell Foundation, more than 25 per cent of Nigerians carry the sickle cell trait, translating to more than 40 million Nigerians being healthy carriers of the sickle cell gene.
Akinsete, who joined the Nigerian delegation to UNGA, said Nigeria should be considered an early demonstration country for transformative sickle care because of its “substantial sickle cell burden, decades of advocacy and service delivery, growing technical and institutional capacity, specialist centres, active civil society and patient networks.”
She said Nigeria had developed solutions in its own context and should not be regarded merely as a recipient of interventions designed elsewhere.
Akinsete said, “Nigeria brings far more to OneSCD than its disease burden. Nigeria brings experience, institutions, technical expertise, civil society, lived experience and solutions that have been developed in our own context.
“Nigeria therefore has both an opportunity and a responsibility to help demonstrate what country-led implementation of OneSCD can look like,” she said.
Akinsete said countries, particularly those in sub-Saharan Africa, should be recognised as “co-creators and partners in the global sickle cell response, rather than simply recipients of solutions developed in other parts of the world.”
She said such countries should play active roles in designing, adapting, testing and implementing interventions suited to their populations and health systems.
The OneSCD partnership was launched by the Federal Government of Nigeria in collaboration with global health partners, including the World Health Organisation, UNICEF and St Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
The initiative seeks to strengthen global coordination, resource mobilisation and shared learning around sickle cell disease, with a focus on improving equity and access to quality care.
Speaking further, Akinsete said country-level ownership would be critical to the success of the initiative, adding that OneSCD could provide a platform for countries to coordinate efforts and share experiences.
She said the foundation’s work in Nigeria had included genetic counselling, early detection, prenatal diagnosis, Transcranial Doppler screening, access to treatment, health-worker training, community mobilisation, research and advocacy.
According to the foundation, it has supported more than 32,000 Transcranial Doppler screenings, 259,000 haemoglobin investigations, 70,000 medication interventions, 3,500 prenatal diagnosis interventions and more than 10,000 genetic counselling engagements.
Akinsete said the ultimate goal should be to ensure that access to quality sickle cell care was not determined by where a child was born.
“Where a child is born should not determine whether that child survives and thrives with sickle cell disease,” she said.
The foundation said it welcomed the launch of OneSCD and the opportunity it presented for stronger collaboration among governments, health institutions, civil society organisations, patients and global health partners.

• Tinubu’s UN absence didn’t affect Nigeria’s position — Jimoh Ibrahim
• Nigeria, six others account for 90% of global cholera deaths — WHO
• Wash dog bite for 15 minutes to prevent rabies, vet advises

Olawale Franklin Akinselure is a journalist at Punch Newspapers with 12 years of experience covering education, politics, health, environment, judiciary, metro, and community beats. He specializes in producing insightful, wide-ranging reports that inform and engage readers. His reporting reflects practical newsroom experience, editorial insight, and a dedication to accurate, reliable journalism.