EPISODE 3

…Globally, and in the whole of Africa, Nigeria has the highest burden of individuals living with Sickle cell disease. As of 2024, Nigeria has a population of over 223.8 million and is named the country with the largest population in Africa and comes at seventh globally. The large population of the country contributes largely to the rise in sickle cell disease where a staggering amount of about 2–3% of the population have sickle cell carrier trait, and over 50 million people have sickle cell. 

  With the massive birth rate of Nigeria where records gathered in 2022 put the birth rate of Nigeria at about 36.61 births per 1000 people this has allowed for the large figures to remain the same in infants where around 150,000 newborns are affected each year, and nearly half die before their fifth birthday. In Nigeria, researchers carried out a research to find out the geographic concentration of sickle cell disease and conclusions made from the research showed that Sickle Cell Disease is prevalent in rural and underdeveloped areas such as villages and that by region, the southwestern region of the country (Osun, Oyo, Ogun, Ekiti, Ondo, Kwara) had more cases of this disease. Another strong factor that has led to an  increase of sickle cell disease in Nigeria is what is generally termed as socio-religious factors.

   Many Nigerians believe that certain things cannot happen to them and in the Nigerian parlance, phrases like ‘it's not my portion’, ‘God forbid’, and the mentality of ‘when we reach that bridge we will cross it' has further increased the cases of sickle cell disease as many individuals often believe that faith cures or prevents everything without taking necessary practical actions to stop this disease from spreading. In the Nigerian environment and society, compared to the life expectancy stated by the American Society of Hematology for high income countries, the life expectancy of Sickle Cell patients in Nigeria is fixed at 21 years which is also 20 years lesser than sickle cell patients living in high-income nations like the US, United Kingdom,Canada and the rest of developed world. Despite the increase in literacy level  and technology in Nigeria, the Nigerian society is still faced with increasing rates of sickle cell disease. This trend has become disadvantageous for both individuals affected by sickle cell disease and the economy at large... 

TO BE CONTINUED ❣️