Dakar, June 19 (APS) – Allograft will be performed “in a short time” to treat and cure sickle cell patients, particularly children affected by this disease, confided the head of the hematology and bone marrow transplant department. bone from the “Dalal Jamm” hospital in Guédiawaye, Professor Fatou Samba Ndiaye.
“For the moment, we are starting autograft for cancers, but later, in some time, we will migrate to allograft which is the therapy that can treat and cure sickle cell patients,” she said. Wednesday taking part on World Sickle Cell Day, commemorated each year on June 19.
World Sickle Cell Day aims to raise awareness among the general public about the disease, the importance of screening and also provide information on treatment options.
According to Professor Ndiaye, bone marrow transplantation is a real opportunity for child patients suffering from sickle cell anemia.
“We realized that worldwide, a transplant could cure 90% of children with sickle cell disease. So, this center, which aimed to treat breast cancer, will take advantage of it to perform bone marrow transplants in the future,” indicated the practitioner.
“It is not only the marrow transplant that we will do in this center, there are also ‘hereditary’ exchanges which is also a cellular therapy to minimize sickle cell crises in children and even in adults” , added Professor Fatou Samba Ndiaye.
Ms. Ndiaye specifies, however, that this therapy requires that a blood bank be available at Dalal Jamm hospital. “It is a plea that we are making, because to carry out the ‘hereditary’ exchange which is monthly, we need blood,” she stressed.
“We are calling on the Ministry of Health to [que l’hôpital Dalal Jamm] can at least have these kits through Universal Health Coverage, so that sickle cell patients can benefit from them, launched the hematologist.
This would help counter “temporal crises”. “We would like our patients to be able to benefit from free care like other chronic pathologies,” insisted Ms. Ndiaye, referring to the high cost of care.
“A kit costs on average 150 thousand CFA francs. A lot of efforts have been made in the context of screening, but there are still efforts to be made in care,” concluded Fatou Samba Ndiaye.
Maguèye Ndiaye, president of the Senegalese association for the fight against sickle cell disease, spoke about the advantages offered by this care center for patients.
“We face a lot of challenges. This transplant center will give a lot of hope to us, blood patients,” he said, before launching a plea “so that the authorities know that beyond the pain, there are possibilities, with development, to find solutions to help these patients,” declared Mr. Ndiaye.
“But we know that with the transplant, it requires a certain means, which is why we are pleading with the authorities so that the care of sickle cell patients is introduced into the care of universal health coverage to alleviate the burden. “access to treatment”, pleaded the president of the association of sickle cell patients.
NSS/BK/ADL
