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World Sickle Cell Day: Scholar advocates genotype test before marriage

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By Gistflash

June 19, 2021

An Islamic scholar, Malam Muhammad Sulaiman, has stressed the need for compulsory genotype test by intended couples before marriage.

He made the call on Saturday in Damaturu at an event to commemorate the 2021 World Sickle Cell Day organised by a Non-Governmental Organisation — Sickle Cell Disease Eradication Initiative (SCDEI).

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Annually marked on June 19 around the globe, the World Sickle Cell Day is aimed at raising awareness on the disorders, challenges suffered by people living with the disease, as well as offer solutions to its cure and management.

The day has “Shine The Light on Sickle Cell” as its theme for 2021.

Sickle Cell Disorders (SCD) are a group of illnesses which affect red blood cells, a genetic condition that is passed on from parents, not from other people.

In broad sense, the term “genotype” refers to the genetic makeup of an organism; in other words, it describes an organism’s complete set of genes. 

It also refers to the hemoglobin gene constituents on the red blood cells known as AA, AS, AC and SS.

The Islamic scholar, therefore, said “I want to call on the public more especially the religious leaders to enlighten their followers the nature and the dangers of sickle cell disease as stated by medical personnel.”

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Suleiman added that both Islam and Christianity believed that protection of life and healthy wellbeing were vital to mankind.

“Therefore, religious leaders should educate their followers about the importance of genotype test before marriage,” he said.

He urged government to make it a law to ensure that genotype test was carried out before marriage just like HIV test.

According to him, such legislation will go a long way toward eradicating the disorder.

The Executive Director of SCDEI, Dr Aliyu Muhammad, noted that Yobe had been among the states with high prevalence of the disease in Nigeria, thus the need for government, public and other stakeholders to understand the disorder.

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The Commissioner for Health, Dr Muhammad Gana, commended the organisers of the event for raising public awareness about the disease.

Gana, who was represented by Dr Garba Fika, said that the best form of protection for the disorder was prevention.

“The disease is hereditary, not communicable, therefore premarital genotype test is the best form of prevention”, he added.

Some parents of sickle cell carriers and survivors shared their experiences at the event.

Christopher Zakaria, a parent of a sickle cell carrier, said love blindfolded him and his wife to go ahead with marriage in spite of their status, adding that “we are now paying the price.”

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He, therefore, advised young men and women to get tested before marriage and stick to medical advice.

NAN

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Health

NCDC announces 210 additional COVID-19 cases, two deaths in 24 hours

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By Gistflash News

Sept 26, 2021

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), says the country recorded two more COVID-19-related deaths with 210 additional cases in the last 24 hours.

The NCDC, in its latest update on Sunday morning, said the cases were reported in 12 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

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It indicated that the country’s total infection from the pandemic currently stands at 204,201 while the fatality toll increased to 2,673.

It also noted that six states – Benue, Kano, Nasarawa, Plateau, Sokoto and Zamfara – recorded no new cases.

The breakdown shows that Lagos remains the nation’s epicentre of the virus with 79 cases, followed by Edo with 20 new infections and Anambra third with 19 cases.

Other states are Rivers (18), Ondo (15), Gombe (14), Oyo (13), Kaduna (11), Ekiti (8), Delta (6), FCT (5), Bayelsa (1) and Kano (1).

The NCDC stated with the new figure, a total of 192,421 patients have so far recovered from COVID-19 in the country.

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It added that over 2. 9 million samples of the virus from the nation’s roughly 200 million population have been tested.

The NCDC noted that a multi-sectoral national emergency operations centre (EOC), activated at Level 2, continued to coordinate the national response activities.

The agency stated that the number of active COVID-19 cases in the country stands at 9,098.

NAN

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NHIS, NYSC sign MoU for corps members’ health insurance cover

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By Gistflash News

Sept 7, 2021

The National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) and the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to give corps members health insurance cover during service.

The MoU was signed by the Executive Secretary of NHIS, Prof. Mohammed Sambo and the Director-General of NYSC, Brig.-Gen. Shuaibu Ibrahim, in Abuja on Tuesday.

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Sambo said that it would ensure that corps members were integrated into the scheme to enable them to properly access healthcare during their service year.

“We are working on the presidential mandate on leaving no one behind in the health insurance scheme.

“So, today, it is big step to ensure that corps members are integrated into the scheme, this will expand coverage ratio of the scheme and also access to health facilities for corps members,’’ Sambo said.

According to him, for the purpose of continuity the corps members after their service year will enroll on what is called kinship programme.

He said that the corps members would migrate from the NYSC insurance to kinship where a token is paid and when they are employed they would join the formal sector programme.

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Also speaking, the D-G of NYSC said that the MoU was in line with presidential directive that corps members should be enrolled in the scheme.

Ibrahim said that such directive showed that the government was concerned about the health of corps members in the country.

According to him, such gesture will encourage the corps members to carry out their service properly.

Ibrahim said that MoU would address the financial burden of the members in terms of health.

NAN

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COVID-19: Nigeria’s total infection toll now stands at 195,052, with 2,522 fatalities

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By Gistflash News

Sept 5, 2021

The Nigeria Centre For Disease Control (NCDC) says the country’s total infection toll now stands at 195,052, with a fatality toll of 2,522.

The NCDC made this known via its verified website on Sunday morning, adding that Nigeria recorded 27 more Coronavirus (COVID-19) related deaths and 964  new infections from 19 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

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The News Agency of Nigeria(NAN) reports that the 964 fresh cases reported on Saturday indicated an increase from the 444 cases posted on Friday.

The public health agency noted that Lagos State, the country’s epicenter of COVID-19, reported 456; Ondo followed with 180, while Edo recorded the third highest infection with 66 cases.

Amongst others are: Rivers (62), Niger (26), Akwa Ibom (25), Ekiti (22), Kwara (22), Oyo (22), Kaduna (17), Delta (14), Benue (12), Gombe (9), Plateau (9), FCT (8), Jigawa (5), Ogun (4), Bayelsa and Nasarawa (2) each, and Bauchi (1).

The agency also noted that the country’s active coronavirus cases in Nigeria were 10,026, with a total of 182,463 cases successfully treated and discharged after recovery as of Sept. 4. 

The NCDC said that over 2.7million samples of the virus out of the nation’s roughly 200 million population were tested.

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The agency said that a multi-sectoral national Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) activated at Level two continues to coordinate the national response activities.

Meanwhile, the NCDC noted that with the recent surge of COVID-19 cases in the country, Nigerians must all do their part to help minimise instances of exposure.

The agency stressed that every COVID-19 related death was a reminder of the damage COVID-19 could cause when it gets into the  community.

While urging Nigerians to get vaccinated, it stressed that the COVID-19 was causing severe illness in people of all ages.

The centre therefore advised Nigerians to get vaccinated now to protect themselves, their friends and community from the virus.

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NAN

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