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Know sickle cell status before falling in love – Sickle cell advocate
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Prof. Otchere Addo
Young adults with intention to marry in future have been advised to check and know their sickle cell status before falling in love.
The Founder of the Sickle Cell Condition Advocates (SICCA), Ms Charlotte Owusu, who gave the advice said this was crucial to prevent people from marrying partners who have the sickle cell in their genes.
That, she noted, would expose them to the life-threatening implications of the Sickle Cell Disease (SCD).
“Some of the experiences SCD patients go through can be harrowing. We are advocating prevention of sickle cell which is the best. It is to know your status so that you don’t marry someone of the same status.
The religious bodies have a huge role to play. They are the people would-be couples to go for marriage counselling and when they detect sickle cell, they ask them not to marry but is that the right time? We must educate the people to screen before falling in love and disclose early in the relationship before it gets deep and difficult to pull out,” she explained.
Ms Owusu shared the advice with The Spectator at the launch of a National SCD policy to improve comprehensive and coordinated healthcare services for patients across the country.
The Founder, who shared her existed experience of the condition, having given birth to two SCD children, lost one and suffered a failed marriage, advised Ghanaians, especially the youth not to downplay the condition which poses health, economic and social burden.
“Prevention is key even though treatment like hydroxyurea, penicillin, folic acid and bone marrow transplant, among others are available,” she said.
One in four Ghanaians is to have the haemoglobin S or C gene, which indicates carriage of the sickle cell trait.
According to national estimates, nine out of 10 people in Ghana are unaware of their SCD status.
Meanwhile, about 15,000 to 20,000 babies are born with SCD in Ghana every year, representing two per cent of all live births.
One in every 50 children born in Ghana would have a sickle cell disease with 50 to 90 per cent of them dying before their fifth birthday
By Abigail Annoh
Deputy National Women Organiser of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mimi Duah, has openly declared her support for Mavis Hawa Koomson as the next National Women’s Organiser of the party.
In a statement endorsing Hawa Koomson’s candidature, Ms Duah outlined four key reasons why she believes the former MP and Minister of State is best placed to lead the party’s women’s wing.
According to her, Hawa Koomson is a motherly figure who rose from the grassroots and is widely noted for her forgiving nature and ability to foster unity.
“She is a true grassroots mother who easily forgives, fosters unity, provides guidance and arbitrates to ensure all aggrieved party women are brought on board to ensure a unified women’s wing,” she stated.
Ms Duah also pointed to Hawa Koomson’s vast experience, having served as a Constituency Women’s Organiser, Member of Parliament and Minister of State, noting that the experience positions her to provide effective leadership as National Women’s Organiser.
She further described Hawa Koomson as capable of making the women’s wing resourceful, through her extensive network and business contacts, to lobby for logistics, training and financial support for women organisers at all levels.
Lastly, she said the NPP as an opposition party needs fearless, bold and assertive leadership at the women’s front to inspire regional, constituency and polling station women organisers as the party reorganises towards the 2028 elections.
“We need a Women’s Organiser who has been tested, who is bold, who understands grassroots women, and who can lead us to victory in 2028. Hon. Mavis Hawa Koomson is that leader,” she stressed.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
News
Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts Minister inaugurates Ghana-Korea Heritage Project Steering Committee
Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts Minister, Abla Dzifa Gomashie, has inaugurated the Ghana-Korea Heritage Project Steering Committee to provide strategic oversight for a five-year programme focused on preserving Ghana’s heritage sites and strengthening their resilience to climate change.
The project will support climate-risk mapping, digital surveying and 3D modelling, joint research, capacity building, community engagement and modern monitoring technologies.
Korea is also providing specialised equipment, including drones, 3D scanners, digital microscopes, thermal imaging cameras and GPS survey instruments, to enhance Ghana’s capacity to scientifically assess, document and conserve heritage structures.
The partnership, which will run through 2030 and beyond, is expected to deepen Ghana-Korea cultural ties while promoting sustainable, technology-driven and climate-adaptive heritage management for future generations.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
