Nduggwa did one of the earliest studies to determine how widespread the trait of sickle cell is in Uganda and trained most of the paediatricians and haematology specialists working at the clinic now including the current head of the clinic Dr Philip Kasirye and Senior Pediatrician Deogratious Munube.
Dr. Deogratias Munube who has been working at the Mulago Sickle Cell Clinic for more than fifteen years, says currently about three in every ten children admitted daily in the Acute Care Unit have a stroke.
CONSA will combine newborn screening and early intervention using the standard of care regimen that includes routine immunization, folic acid administration and anti-bacterial prophylaxis among others.
Releasing results of the study started in March to establish the extent of herbal medicine use among patients seeking treatment at the sickle cell clinic of Mulago hospital, Dr Maria Asiimwe, a researcher at Makerere University School of Medicine says that most of the participants in the study said they started using herbs following television adverts promoting the herbs as more effective than conventional medicine.
Hydroxyurea, a myelosuppressive agent, is the only effective drug proven to reduce the frequency of painful episodes and the need for blood transfusions, among persons living with sickle cell disease, a severe genetic blood disorder, which affects individuals who inherit genes that code for abnormal haemoglobin from both of their parents.
Medical workers at Fort Portal Regional Referral Hospital are demanding for the establishment of a sickle cell clinic to manage the disease especially among infants. The call follows records at the childrens ward which indicate that 40 percent of children under the age of five years who are admitted at the facility have sickle cell disease.
Forty-six-year-old Kiyaga has been hailed for his ground-breaking research that saw Uganda introduce Early Infant Diagnosis EID for children known to have been exposed to HIV.
Dr. Ben Kiwanuka Mukwaya, the Kingdoms health minister told URN that the partnership with health ministry was strategic to enhance the social-economic transformation agenda of Uganda and Buganda Kingdom.
Among the people who turned up for the fundraising included musicians Bebe Cool who gave Kacies parents Hakeem Buuza and Lynn Najjemba 300,000 Shillings, A Pass and the Managing Director Pearl FM Abdul Karim Kaliisa who donated 10,000 US dollars and others.
Evelynn Mwesigwa, the Executive Director Sickle Cell Network in Uganda cited a need for Ugandans to screen early to know their status and to avoid having children with sickle cell anaemia.
The conference will bring together distinguished scientists, policy makers, researchers, advocacy groups, technology and pharmaceuticals companies among others
As Uganda marked World Sickle Cell Day on Wednesday, more than 300 patients in Luweero and Nakasongola complained over lack of drugs and the high costs of carrying out confirmation tests for the disease. Information from Sickle Cell Association of Uganda and Ministry of Health indicates that at least 33,000 babies are born with Sickle Cell annually, of which 80% die before the age of 5.
