Usman Usman Garba
Spokesperson of Kano State Governor, Malam Sunusi Bature Dawakin Tofa has vowed to advocate for the crusade of sickle cell anaemia in the state by 2034.
The known was made in an official statement issued to newsmen by Usman Gwadabe, Director of Public Enlightenment, Kano Government House, quoting Bature during the stone laying foundation of the Sadiq Maddibo Memorial Quranic Centre at Dawakin Tofa town today.
Malam Bature disclosed that a discussion on how to achieve the target was already done between him and the Sickle cell community in the state, adding that “We are going to pursue a robust and strategic plan to ensure in the next 10 there will be no sickle cell boy delivered in Kano State God Willing.”
He said that the signing of the Kano Pre-marital Law, which prohibits couple marriage with the possibility of delivering sickle cell patent, the advocacy is being supported to ensure no such marriage is institutionalised in the state.
The spokesman said the law was supported fully by Islamic scholars, lamenting that as a victim of the disease whereby two of my children are battling with it, one of them just died recently, it has to be fought with all seriousness.
According to him, sickle cell is more terrible than HIV, stressing that “as citizens, as community, as advocate, as people of government we shall do everything humanly possible to ensure that our people are sensitised against marriage between AS and AS or SS and SS or AS and SS so that the tendency of given birth to sickle cell anaemia is going to be avoided.
Malam Bature, who is also the Director General of Media and Publicity Kano Government House lamented that living with a sickle is like living on a death row.
He narrated that my son, the late Sadiq, lived almost 15 years with sickle cell anaemia and for 14. .5 years, he suffered from sickle cell, was admitted to different hospitals for more than 1000 days, and was injected 1000 times,” noting that since it is an avoidable disease, it would be stopped.
He called on people to adhere to the state law that mandated pre-marital tests.
