Sickle cell anemia: man’s inhumanity to man

One of my most heart-rending moments in my career as a doctor is seeing sickle cell patients going through a painful crisis. Perhaps the only thing more traumatizing is when patients come to the end of their lives. I think it is plainly wicked and extremely selfish, to in the name of love, beget innocent children to come into an already difficult world and go through so much suffering.

If you haven’t witnessed a ‘sickler’ going through a painful crisis, it may be difficult to fully appreciate how gruesome this condition can be. It is akin to physically torturing your fellow man, only that no one is bodily present to inflict the pain at the time of the crisis. The deed was already done when two mindless and irresponsible adults decided to leave matters of life and death to chance.

I once had a sickle cell patient who later became my friend a few years ago. His parents lived in another state and were separated. Not only that, they had abandoned him; his father only sent him a monthly stipend for his upkeep.

Whenever his crisis started, usually in the middle of the night, the pain was horrendous. He would then manage to get himself to the hospital by that time of the night. From a mile away, in the dead of the night, you could hear the shrill sound of his cry as he approached the hospital.

I can’t think of a better example of suffering but that boy suffered. Again if you know sickle cell painful crisis well, you will know that sometimes even morphine, the most potent pain killer, doesn’t work. It could be quite intractable. Often, especially in ill-equipped facilities like ours, these patients are left to the mercy of their condition. Some of them stay up all night screaming in pain, even in hospital wards.

Only last week, I saw a young lady in a similar intractable pain and it reminded me of every woeful thing I know about sickle cell. Attending to her was what inspired me to write this article. I met her lying on her hospital bed and repeatedly asking God why her. Only recently Adekunle Gold, the musician, revealed that he used to beg God to take his life during his painful crises.

Sickle cell disease is 100% preventable. In fact, it should not be an existing condition at all. The only reason it occurs in the first place is because two consenting adults decide to tempt God. This is very wicked. Personally, I think such unions should be criminalized, especially when consensual.

All institutions have a role to play in completely putting an end to this atrocious act: the state, religion, traditional offices, the family etcetera. The union of an intending couple who stand a chance of birthing a sickler should be made explicitly illegal. I’m referring to AS/SS marriages. The state cannot turn a blind eye in this instance. The church or mosques should also not entertain such unions, likewise traditional institutions.

If these marriages and unions are banned, sickle cell disease will be expunged from our society, at least to a very large extent. The fact that a blind eye is turned to this matter is more worrisome that the matter itself. You only have to visit a hospital ward and see what these sicklers pass through; a condition that is completely avoidable. I think humanity can do better.