THE kingdom’s continuous advancements, management and prevention awareness of sickle cell anaemia has made remarkable strides over the years as deaths have decreased ... along with the percentage of individuals being born with the hereditary disease.
According to a Government Hospital presentation held at Salmaniya Medical Complex (SMC), patients passing away from the disease between the years of 2012 to 2016 and compared to 2017 to 2021 has reduced to 42 per cent, courtesy of the 180 projects implemented over the past 35 years, as well as to the medical teams and government leadership.
SMC’s sickle cell disease care co-ordinator and special nursing specialist, Ali Darwish, who presented the findings, added that pre-marital counselling and pre-marital medical check-ups has helped in raising awareness about the condition and helping to decrease the number of children being born with it to 0.03 per cent.
He added that Bahrain is considered the ‘first in the world’ in the prevention or raising awareness about the condition.
Sickle cell anaemia remains one of the most prevalent genetic disorders in the kingdom and is characterised by abnormal blood cells that have a tendency to take on a rigid, sickle-like shape.
It leaves sufferers prone to a number of acute and chronic health problems such as infection, attacks of severe pain known as ‘sickle-cell crisis’ and stroke. The pain varies in intensity and can last for a few hours to a few days.
The medical team at the Hereditary Blood Disorder Centre, which was established in 2014 to cater to around 5,000 registered sickle cell patients in the country, are working diligently to ensure patients are treated and cared for as to not disrupt their daily lives. The centre has also aided in the decline in number of carriers.
During a tour of the centre, deputy chair of the hereditary blood disease committee, Dr Raja Sayed Hasan Abdulla AlYusuf, introduced members of the media to different doctors, nurses and consultants caring for patients.
There are 42 beds dedicated to women suffering from the disease in SMC and 90 for men in the centre. There are two medical consultants dealing with blood diseases, alongside psychiatrists on hand and doctors specialising in sickle cell and others from different fields ready to assist. There is also a range of nurses and medical experts.
“It’s a unique facility,” she said. “We have a building dedicated for sickle cell disease and the management of patients. These patients endure pain crises so they tend to visit accident and emergency, or any urgent care facility, frequently.
“Therefore, instead of having sickle cell disease patients seeking attention alongside those attending accident and emergency, we have this building which has actually made a huge positive impact on the daily life of patients.
“They come here throughout the day, so you hardly ever see a huge crowd waiting or an overwhelming use of the facilities. The most important thing is that when they come in, they are assessed very carefully by a trained triage nurse that stratifies the patient as to whether he or she needs immediate action or not.”
She added that usually the patient requires painkillers and an intravenous hydration drip (IV) to reduce the severity of the crisis. The ground floor of the centre is suited for that treatment option and most of the time 90pc of patients are able to go home afterwards.
She also stated that other hospitals admit patients for a day or two for something that can be managed in up to eight hours if they have the infrastructure and facilities at hand.
“Thankfully, we have that and try not to admit patients unnecessarily,” she said. “It’s important for those patients, since it’s a chronic condition that will stay with them for the rest of their lives, for the disease management to be close to their home and the least disruptive to their lifestyle too.
“Patients are very receptive to the idea of coming in, receiving IV and pain management, staying about four to eight hours and then being discharged with a follow up later. If the patient needs admission after eight hours of IV, then he or she will be admitted at one of the wards and after five days, the patient will be discharged. This is the idea and the objective of the centre.
“We have accumulated years of experience in dealing with sickle cell disease and its complications. We have also received a number of visitors from different high calibre institutions such as from the American John Hopkins Hospital, similar facilities in the UK and a number of other places, that come in and evaluate the services we provide.
“At this stage, we are in very good shape in the management of sickle cell.”
Medics are not resting on the laurels. She added that a five-year plan had also been launched with a number of strategic objectives, initiatives and projects to enable sickle cell disease management to reach an even higher standard of care and also to provide a centre for training for anyone who wishes to be trained in sickle cell disease from Bahrain or across the region.
“The exchange transfusion, the support clinic, the multidisciplinary clinic, the clinical trials, the training centre, and all the research are components of our five-year plan,” she said. “This is part of the big picture to enable the centre to become the highest standard possible.”
mai@gdnmedia.bh
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