World Sickle Cell Day: Nigeria Battles Rising Crisis as Faulty Tests, Poor Labs Skew Results
As the world marks Sickle Cell Day, Nigeria is once again facing scrutiny over its growing sickle cell burden, with experts warning that unreliable genotype testing and weak laboratory systems are worsening the crisis.
Health professionals say inaccurate test results, misdiagnosis, and alleged manipulation of reports are increasingly shaping marriage decisions and contributing to the continued birth of children with sickle cell disease.
Nigeria remains the global epicentre of the disorder, with an estimated 150,000 babies born with sickle cell disease every year and about 40 million people carrying the trait.
Despite widespread awareness campaigns, prevention efforts remain inconsistent.
Experts estimate that a significant share of genotype results in the country, up to 40 per cent in some assessments, may be inaccurate.
They attribute this to outdated equipment, poor regulatory enforcement, lack of quality control systems, and unethical practices in some diagnostic centres.
There are also concerns that in some cases, individuals influence laboratory outcomes to obtain “AA” status ahead of marriage, a practice experts say is distorting public health outcomes.
Medical practitioners warn that these failures go beyond technical errors, describing them as life-altering mistakes that have led to broken relationships and the birth of children with sickle cell disease despite presumed safe results.
One mother shared her experience of discovering years after marriage that her true genotype was SC, not AA as initially reported. By then, she had already given birth to children living with sickle cell disease, a situation she attributes to a wrong laboratory result.
In contrast, another respondent said early and accurate testing helped him make informed marital choices, stressing the importance of confirmatory screening in accredited facilities rather than reliance on a single report.
Experts maintain that sickle cell disease is largely preventable through proper genetic counselling and accurate screening before marriage.
However, they say low awareness, cultural pressures, and inconsistent laboratory practices continue to undermine prevention efforts.
They also note that certain medical conditions, such as recent blood transfusions, can affect genotype results if not properly accounted for, especially in poorly regulated laboratories.
Health authorities and professionals are now calling for stricter regulation, mandatory quality assurance systems, and standardised testing protocols to restore credibility to genotype screening in Nigeria.
Stakeholders in the medical laboratory sector warn that the rapid growth of unregulated diagnostic centres has made reliable testing difficult, weakening trust in results issued across the country.
Sickle cell advocates further highlight the economic and emotional strain on families, noting that many patients still pay out of pocket for long-term treatment with limited access to structured care.
They are urging the government to implement nationwide screening programmes, strengthen laboratory accreditation systems, and expand health insurance coverage to reduce preventable cases.
On World Sickle Cell Day, experts caution that without urgent reforms, Nigeria’s sickle cell burden will remain high despite decades of awareness campaigns.
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