Hadjiya Buhari promises to fight sickle cell anaemia during her husband's tenure

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari's wife Aisha has vowed to devote all her energy to the fight against sickle cell anaemia in memory of her stepdaughter Zulaihat who died from the ailment in 2012.

 

Zulaihat, President Buhari’s first daughter, died after delivering a baby in November 2012, aged 40, having suffered from debilitating sickle cell anaemia for years. Speaking yesterday at the World Sickle Cell Awareness Day campaign organised by Olusegun Obasanjo Foundation in Abuja, Hadjiya Buhari said the sickle-cell experience of her step daughter will live with her and members of her family for the rest of their lives.

 

She described the disorder as traumatic and vowed to contribute towards ridding Nigeria of the disease. Hadjiya Buhari expressed commitment towards creating awareness on the treatment and management of the disease.

 

Hadjiya Buhari said: “As I stand before you now, the memory of the agony which my late step daughter, Zulaihat Buhari, went through is something that will live with me and our entire family for the rest of our lives. I watched my daughter go through severe pains in almost every part of her body, often I became helpless and wished that I could also share the pain with her at those moments.”

 

She expressed delight that efforts of medical professionals initiating innovative strategies towards improving the standards of health of persons living with sickle cell disease are yielding commendable results. Hadjiya Buhari cited the establishment of the renowned sickle cell centre in Idi-Araba, Lagos State, as one of the commendable examples.

 

She also lauded other efforts, including numerous donations by well-meaning individuals and corporate organisations and solicited for more action and assistance in extending the initiative to other parts of the country. Hadjiya Buhari called for the establishment of sickle cell centres in Borno and Yobe States, noting studies show that the two states have the largest number of traits of the disorder with a prevalence of 27.9% and 32.6% respectively.

 

Olu Akinyanju, the founder of the Sickle Cell Foundation of Nigeria, said the event provides the opportunity to remind Nigeria's leaders to help reduce the impact of the disease on carriers and help sustain the fight. He explained that the foundation has so far addressed issues such as genetic counselling, pre-natal diagnosis of the disease and stroke risk detection and prevention.

 

Meanwhile, in the UK, Nigerian charity Sickle Cells Champions (SCC), will be holding walk tomorrow morning at 10am, taking place between Asda in Belvedere and Erith Town Centre. SCC coordinator Folayemi Jones-Laguda, said the walk has been themed the Cycle of Pain and participants will wear special T-shirts on the day.