As part of its going efforts to impact the lives of those suffering with sickle cell anaemia and to raise funds for planned projects, an NGO, the Sickle Cell Advocacy and Management Initiative (SAMI) will be having a benefit concert tagged TOUCH A CELL on Sunday, April 1 at the Victoria Crown Plaza Hotel, Ajose Adeogun Street, Victoria Island by 5pm. It will be an evening of dinner, music, dance, comedy and drama. Performances will include Oba, Adol, Kayefi, Olufunmi, Yinka Davies, Tosin Martins, Da Soul Explorers amongst others. Tickets are on sale from N5,000 for regular, N20,000 for VIP and N30,000 for couples. SAMI’s mission is to be an effective change agent in the lives of people living with Sickle Cell Anaemia as well as their families.
SAMI, initially called the Still Standing Foundation was inaugurated in November 2006 and was borne out of the intense response from the book “Still Standing, a biography of the founder of the foundation, Ms. Toyin Adesola. The book is a compelling autobiographical story of her travails with the sickle cell anaemia disorder and the tenacity by which she was able to overcome the many challenges she encountered. The book is one of faith, resilience and courage and challenges the reader to look beyond their immediate circumstances.
Sickle Cell disorder affects over 2 million Nigerians, resulting in the death of an average of 150,000 children each year, more out of ignorance than the disorder itself. As a result, a great deal needs to be done; not just from the physical treatment of the disease, but also the emotional and psychological aspects. This is the area SAMI intends to focus on to assist sicklers as well as people in general who are facing emotional and psychological challenges.
Sickle-Cell Anaemia also known as sickle-cell disease is a hereditary condition in which haemoglobin, an oxygen-carrying protein in the blood, is altered, leading to periodic interruptions in blood circulation. The disease is found predominantly in blacks; it also occurs in the Middle East and the Mediterranean area.
Symptoms of the condition appear at about six months of age and may include enlargement of the abdomen and heart and painful swelling of the hands and feet. In adolescence, sexual maturation may be delayed. The disturbances in blood flow associated with the disease also dispose affected people to infections and leg ulcers. These symptoms are due to the altered haemoglobin, which changes shape when the amount of oxygen in the blood is reduced for any reason. The red blood cell in which the haemoglobin is contained also changes its shape, from round to crescent (sickle shaped). The sickle-shaped red cells interfere with normal blood flow by plugging up small blood vessels leading to painful crises.
Sickle-cell anaemia occurs when an individual inherits a sickle-cell gene from each parent. Programmes have been initiated to detect carriers of the gene, who do not themselves show the trait. Such carriers are informed that a child resulting from the union of two carriers runs a one-in-four risk of having sickle-cell disease. Therapy for sickle-cell anaemia is largely to allay symptoms.
