HEALTH NEWS
OVER 2000
PERSONS PARTICIPATED IN SICKLE CELL FOUNDATION RED UMBRELLA CHARITY WALK
BY MILES OLU and JOSEPH CHUKWUDEBE.
Saturday, June fifteen, Twenty nineteen
over 2000 persons participated in the Sickle Cell Foundation Red Umbrella
Charity Walk which kicked off from the sports complex of the University of
Lagos, Akoka, Yaba, Lagos. All the participants decked out on red T . Shirts
and red face caps with various inscriptions of the coalition of Non
Governmental Organisations (NGO) that came together with the sicle cell
foundation herself.
The theme of the red umbrella charity
walk is : Advocacy for change The nine kilometer Cickle Cell Foundation Red
Umbrella Charity Walk with a long truck with musical apparatuses which provided
good tunes of music that added heavy charity walk effects and colouration took
the participants through the routes of the second major gate of the campus
which burst out at the Mountain of Fire Ministry (MFM) church through Onike,
Iwaya routes to Sabo and from Sabo the participants came back to the sports
complex for light entertainments and all that .
Speaking with Journalists at the sports
complex University of Lagos, Akoka, Yaba, Lagos Pastor Emmanuel Ibekwe of Dabma
Sickle cell Foundation said that the red umbrella Charity walk is to create an
ample awareness of the heavy disorderness the sickle cell anemia caused to the
carriers.
He painfully disclosed to the media how
the sickle cell anemia got one of his daughters an undergraduate killed adding
that one of his In – laws also mauled down by sickle cell disorder.
He says that there will never be a time when
the sickle cell disorder could be eradicated, but , that the policy makers
could radically address the issue frontally so that carriers could be saved
from the untold pains associated with the disease. He disclosed to the media
that June 19th, 2019 shall be the commemoration of World Cell Day
which falls on Wednesday next week, hence about 12 coalitions of sickle cell
NGOs decided to organize the red umbrella charity walk on Saturday, June 15th,
2019 for all and sundry. Again , speaking further pastor Ibekwe said that they
would be gladdened to meet with the Vice President His exellency, Prof. Yemi
Osibajo at the sickle cell foundation summit.
He called that the carriers of sickle
cell disorder should not be stigmatized by the care givers and all , rather
that the care givers that is the medical practitioners should show uncommon
love to the carriers.
Speaking further pastor Ibekwe said that
researchers really need to do more researches so that cures could be discovered
so as to reduce the pains the disease causes the carriers in all ramifications.
He said that young people willing to get
married should endevour to find out what genotype group they belong before
tieing the knots.
Speaking with journalists the Chief
Executive Officer of Tonymay Sickle cell Aids Edith Otokhina said that the red
umbrella charity walk is really to create awareness for the general public to
know much of the killer disease adding that the killer disease took away two of
her children a Lawyer and a Biochemist.
She said that she was very devastated
when the killer disease touched her through her children. She said that the
Federal government through the Federal Ministry of Health should declare an
emergency on the dreaded killer disease so that radical ideas and solution
could be proffered for the carriers to be properly cared for by the medical
practitioners.
Speaking again she said that she decided
to brand her sickle cell Aids with the names of her children Tony/Mary (Tonymay)
because their memories still linger in her subconciousness adding that her
three remaining children are not carriers of sickle cell anemia.
Speaking with journalists Timi Edwin the
head of public relation of the 12 coalition of the NGOs that teamed up together
to showcase the sickle cell foundation red umbrella charity walk said that the
purposes of the walk is to create awareness so as to clearly remove the
misconceptions lots of people have about sickle cell anemia adding that they
decided to do the road walk within the communities of Akoka, Yaba, Surulere
et’al.
She called on all the stakeholders to
radically legislate laws at the national assembly that would attract
affordability of medical treatment, drugs, and all that. She said most parents
do not even know that their children or wards are suffering from the sickle
cell anemia until it painfully touches them adding that early intervention do
largely help to stem the ugly side of the disease.
Timi Edwin is of Crimson Bow Sickle cell
Initiative. Speaking with Iconblazemagazineonlineportal Walter Bossman of
TEMPLARS said that his organization is one heavily committed to the challenges
posed by the sickle cell anemia to carriers by providing all the necessary
assistance the sickle cell foundation needs to discharge her Corporate Social
Responsibility to the sufferers of the killer disease.
He said that all 12 NGOs that teamed up
together with sickle cell foundation gathered once every year to access,
evaluate and at the end create awareness for the general public.
He opines that the policy makers should
pragmatically and proactively provide soft landing for the carriers to be able
to afford the cost of treatments
The Sickle cell Foundation Red Umbrella
Charity Walk is unimaginably sponsored by Fidelity Bank et’al. #SCDWALK4HOPE
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