What FG Plans To Do To Carriers Of Sickle Cell Disease
As Nigerians marked the 2015 World Sickle Cell Day, the Federal Government has stated its plans for carriers of the disease.
Speaking at a press conference organized to mark the event today, the permanent secretary, Federal Ministry of Health, Linus Awute said that the government will not ban marriage between carriers of the sickle cell disease in the country, NAN reports.
Reacting to speculations that the government was pursuing a legislation to ban marriage between victims of the disease, Awute said the FG through the ministry would rather adopt aggressive public sensitization that would be geared towards creating more awareness about the disease in Nigeria.
permanent secretary, Federal Ministry of Health, Linus Awute
“Couples who are carriers are still getting married today out of ignorance and the best way to cure ignorance is by sensitisation of the public.
“Criminalizing marriage between two carriers is undemocratic because it will amount to criminalizing love, so government is not even contemplating that option.
“We are in a democracy and I think everybody is free to choose his or her partner, so the best approach for now is sensitisation which will be at the head of other strategies,” he said.
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He however, acknowledged the fact that the burden of the disease in Nigeria was high and that there was an urgent need for actions to be scaled up.
According to statistics, over 100 million people in the world are affected by the Sickle cell disease, while an estimated 40 million Nigerians are carriers of the sickle cell trait.
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What FG Plans To Do To Carriers Of Sickle Cell Disease
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