Sickle cell is not a death sentence – Nana Esi Duker McMartey

Ismail Akwei hosts the LowDown on Ghanaweb TV

Leaders of two Sickle Cell advocacy groups appear on the Low Down

Dr Bankas dispels misconceptions about Sickle Cell

The founder of one of Ghana’s leading Sickle Cell Advocacy groups, Nana Esi McMartey has dispelled the belief that those who suffer the dreaded disease are condemned to death.

According to the founder of Sickle Cell Awareness Initiative, the notion long held by a good number of Ghanaians “is symptomatic of the national narrative around Sickle Cell and why we have morbidity rates that are high in the country, vis-à-vis in developed countries that also have a Sickle Cell prevalence.”

She said this when she appeared together with the Managing Director of Sickle Cell Life, Dr. Enam Sefakor Bankas on the recent episode of the Low Down on GhanaWeb hosted by Nii Akwei Ismail Akwei.

According to her, there is proof that many deaths associated with the Sickle Cell disease are preventable and thus makes it necessary for such a notion to be done away with.

Nana Esi Dukor disclosed that her group currently has a member who will is 92-years despite living with the disease all her life.

On her part, Dr Enam Sefakor Bankas dispelled the many misconceptions around how one can become a Sickle Cell patient noting that the disease is intrinsic and not acquired through the many ways some believe such as being communicable.

Watch the Low Down with Nii Akwei Ismail Akwei below: