Experts Demand Compulsory Newborn Screening for Sickle Cell in Nigeria

As Nigeria battles the highest global Sickle Cell Disease birth rate currently put at 150,000 annually, two genetic experts, Prof Ikhide Imumorin and Emeritus Prof Olufunmilayo Adebambo, have canvassed a compulsory medical screening policy for all newborn babies at birth.

Going by key statistics, approximately 50million people in Nigeria carry the sickle cell traits and the prevalence of the disease contributes to a high rate of morbidity and mortality whereby a significant number of affected children die before they reach age 50.

The experts formed a consensus urging the Federal Government to urgently introduce a legislation making it mandatory for all hospitals to be equipped with capacity to do medical screening for the babies the moment they emerge from the Labour Room.

Both Prof Imumorin, Executive Director, California State University Biotechnology Program, USA, and Prof Olufunmilayo Adebambo who retired from the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta(FUNAAB), spoke while featuring on the popular monthly interview discourse, Boiling Point Arena.

The current affairs programme, hosted by a media professional, Dr Ayo Arowojolu, was transmitted via Zoom and broadcast live on six radio stations, chaired by frontline traditional ruler, the Olowu of Owu, Oba Prof Saka Matemilola.

The topic of discourse was, “Genetic Revelations: Understanding the Conundrum of Paternity Conflicts in Modern Families”.

Citing best practices in other climes including the USA, Prof Imumorin said it is mandated by Law that operatives of the hospitals take blood samples from the heel or foot of a baby within six hours of birth to laboratories to test for various genetic information and also follow up with another confirmatory test.

Prof Imumorin’s drift: “Sickle Cell Disease as deadly as it is, can be managed. It is actually treatable. For the carriers in many cases, their life expectancy is questionable. Many die before they are in their teens. Actually, one in five babies with sickle cell disease die before the age of five. So the burden of this is huge.

“The issue with Nigeria is that babies are not screened at birth. There is no official standard screening in Nigeria right now. We need to test newborns. It’s called newborn screening. In the US and in many advanced countries, newborn screening is mandated by law. Every State has one laboratory, one major government laboratory that does all newborn testing. And so every hospital where babies are born, they know that this must be done. So, they take that sample and send to the laboratory.

“It is not only sickle cell disease they test, but for other cases like galactosemia, etc and if it is abnormal, they now need to do a confirmatory test. The screening may not cure sickle cell babies, but can help to make it treatable. And the earlier you start treating them, the better it is for that person growing up with sickle cell disease, it can be treatable it will reveal family history and other hereditary diseases and genetic inheritances.

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“150,000 babies every year are born with sickle cell disease in Nigeria because we are the largest black population in the world. And this mutation is endemic in sub-Saharan Africa. We have the largest population of Blacks. Therefore, we contribute the largest proportion of people with sickle cell disease.”

Prof Imumorin said further: “In the Nigeria scenario, a lot of damaged would have started manifesting in Sickle Cell children without this screening done. But if you knew from birth, within, say, two days, or first few weeks that this child is SS, Doctors know the kind of things they can start doing, applying some treatments, some therapies, some things to mitigate that damage such that by the time they are growing up, things are a little better for them”

For her part, Prof Adebambo also corroborated Imumorin’s viewpoints, tasking government to make medical screening for newborn babies compulsory similar to the Immunization policy.

Prof Adebambo also counselled Nigerians particularly couples intending to marry to subject themselves for genetic screening in order to ensure compatibility and avert unpleasant future lamentations.

She emphasized: “Even when you think this child is mine, there’s still some level of incompatibility in certain areas of the genetic code, which might just surface anytime, any day which you don’t expect. And that’s why we are even saying now, before you get married, get your DNA tested so that you don’t make the mistake of transferring diseases to your children.”