Ikpeazu calls for increased campaign against sickle cell

Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State has emphasised the need for increased campaign against sickle cell anaemia to break the scourge of the disease in the country.
Ikpeazu made the call in Umuahia on Friday when he was inaugurating Vicar Hope Foundation, the brain child of his wife, Mrs Nkechi Ikpeazu, targeted at uplifting the indigent people in the society.
He commended the foundation for its numerous programmes, especially its programme on sickle cell,  and encouraged Nigerians to undergo genotype test before marriage.
According to him, this initiative would provide an avenue for aggressive campaign against sickle cell and educating people to avoid the pains of having children with the condition.
Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) is a serious, inherited condition affecting the blood and various organs in the body.
It affects the red blood cells, causing episodes of sickling, which produce episodes of pain and other symptoms.
He said that the state government would make it mandatory for students in Abia to know their genotypes and reflect it on their identity cards.
Ikpeazu promised to support the foundation with a vehicle fully equipped with genotype testing equipment.
The governor said that it was necessary for the privileged members of the society to give hope to the poor and helpless people by giving them all the necessary support.
Mr Chris Igwe, Chairman of the occasion commended the foundation for its programmes which were targeted at the indigent in Abia.
Igwe said that the establishment of the organisation was an innovative way of complimenting the state government’s efforts at transforming Abia.
In her address, Mrs Ikpeazu, appealed to stakeholders and philanthropists to support the organisation’s programmes.
Ikpeazu said that the foundation would undertake programmes such as skills acquisition and empowerment, free housing scheme, sensitisation on the disease, among others as part of the initiatives to improve people’s standard of living.