The wife of Abia state Governor, Mrs. Nkechi Ikpeazu has expressed gratitude to the Speaker and members of the sixth Abia House of Assembly for passing the blood and genotype bill, pleading that other bills on other issues concerning women and children especially the girl child be passed.
Mrs. Ikpeazu who spoke recently at the 2018 world sickle cell awareness Day celebration with the theme “working together to end the cycle” held at the Aba General hospital thanked the Governor, Dr Okezie Ikpeazu for his unique love on issues relating to health.
She expressed hope that the Governor will soon give assent to the bill to expedite action on the matter.
The wife of the Governor challenged parents and other stakeholders especially those in the health sector to see to it that the bill gets the expected result.
According to her, “the law places a huge responsibility on the populace especially would- be parents to take essential steps to ensure that they do not bring children into the world to suffer”.
She further explained that sickle cell disorder causes the onset of many other diseases and wreaks havoc on individuals and family due to poor information but can be avoided if people take a little more care to know their status.
In his speech, the speaker, Abia State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon Chikwendu Kalu appreciated the wife of the Governor for sensitizing the public about the dangers of sickle cell anemia, disclosing that the bill aims at reducing the incidence of sickle cell by making it mandatory for Abians to insert their blood group and genotype on their identity cards as well as ensure they must know their genotype before marriage.
Earlier, the chairman on the occasion, prof Chuks Kamalu explained that the world Sickle cell day is set aside by the United Nations to create awareness and strategize on how to manage the challenges faced by the carriers of sickle cell which is a source of emotional, psychological, social and public health problem and affects about 3% of the Nigeria’s population especially children.
He commended Vicar Hope foundation for championing the campaign in breaking the cycle of the scourge through awareness and subsidized treatment.
Meanwhile, the Governor’s wife earlier with other stakeholders and women groups undertook a walk round some streets of Aba to create awareness while an award was presented on the sixth Abia House of Assembly by the Vicar Hope foundation.
