Katsina Makes Genotype Test Mandatory Before Marriage

Katsina State Governor, Dikko Radda has said it is mandatory for intending couples in the state to undergo sickle cell screening to check the spread of the ailment.

Radda said this on Monday in a speech at the inauguration of a Sickle Cell Centre and launch of the monthly distribution of free drugs to sickle cell patients at the General Hospital, Katsina. The drugs distributed by the state government included sickle cell anaemia and malaria drugs.

The programme was organised through the governor’s wife’s pet project, Safe Space Humanitarian Initiative in collaboration with the state ministry of health.

According to the governor, the state government provided legislation that prohibits marriage without the couple undergoing a series of tests, including the sickle cell screening.

He said the law was intended to ensure that marriage between persons with the same AS genotype was prevented in the interest of all. Radda further said that if such marriage was allowed to take place, both the couples, their children, parents, the government and the public would be at the receiving end.

He urged parents to ensure that their children were subjected to screening before marriage to ensure that they were not all of the AS genotypes to reduce the rising number of sickle cell patients. The governor said: “If couples undergo sickle cell screening, the danger of having children with such sickness can be prevented.

In most cases, when carriers are married, in the end, the children will always be suffering from one sickness or the other, making life difficult for them.