Mohammed Haruna Bello ((9News Nigeria, Yobe State)
Yobe State University Teaching Hospital (YSUTH), in partnership with Megan Adediran, founder of the Hemophilia Foundation of Nigeria (HFN) and the Sickle Cell Eradication Initiative (SCEDI), is set to establish the first center for sickle cell and hemophilia patients in Yobe State.
The President, Hemophilia Foundation, Megan Bukky Adediran expressed her intention for establishing the center in the state.
She noted that it is in order to ease the hardship faced by some of their patients who frequently travel to Gombe or Kano for treatment.
”One of our visions is to ensure that we establish one center each across all the 36 states of the federation including Abuja. So far, we have Centres in 13 states and Yobe is going to be number 14,” she said.
Adesiran explained that “it is known worldwide that for every 10,000 only one may have hemophilia. However, there is another disease called Von Williebrand Disease (VWD), which is closely related to hemophilia but is much more common among people unlike hemophilia.”
Yobe State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Muhammad Lawan Gana, expressed his satisfaction on the project and added that the center would serve as a place for conducting tests using state of the arts machines, distribution of free drugs, and providing immediate care to the patients.
”Fortunately, International Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs) such as the World Federation for Hemophilia (WFH), are helping us by providing adequate drugs for our patients,” he said.
