An advocacy campaign against marriage without pre marital counseling or genotype compatibility test has been launched in Kano State, North west Nigeria to fight the increase of children born with sickle cell anemia.
The Director General, Media and Publicity to Kano State Governor, Sanusi Bature who launched the advocacy in memory of his son who died of the disease, called for support for the pre marital law recently signed by Kano State Governor Abba Yusuf.
Sanusi Bature has been in and out of hospital in the past fifteen years as two of his children are sickle cell carriers, painfully, his eldest son died weeks ago from the condition in whose memory this advocacy is being launched.
MUST READ: Gombe Healthcare: State Govt. Intensify Vaccination Campaigns
The grieving father says the Kano state pre marital law which advocates for genotype matching before couples get married, should be strengthened with constant advocacy to prevent increasing the number of children with sickle cell in the state.
Bature says living with sickle cell is like one living on a death roll.
A quranic education center which will cater for children’s Islamic orientation is also being inaugurated.
In the coming days, the Kano State governor’s spokesperson will be rolling out a number of advocacy programmes in communities across Kano state on the need for pre marital testing and sickle cell anemia.
(Editor: Ebuwa Omo-Osagie)
