Ignorance itself is a disease, so not knowing what a particular disease does to the body is a double disease. Haemophilia, a disease whose symptoms include bleeding abnormally, pain and tingling in the joints has been killing people silently, especially women. There are two types; factor 8 which is haemophilia A and factor 9 which is haemophilia B.
It is a life-long disease and is passed on by birth meaning it is inherited from parents. The disease affects the X chromosome easily and riskier in women than in men. And people in Sierra Leone have been dying in their numbers without knowledge of this disease.
So a physiotherapist, Henry Koroma has formed an organization called Frontiers For Haemophilia And Bleeding Disorders(FHBD) to counter this silent dreaded disease in Sierra Leone. The disease is also as a result of lack of blood clotting ability of the body and so during surgery or accidents the blood flows for an unusually long time. This has left the patients anemic.
At the Connaught hospital there is now a machine to test people for the diagnosis of the disease. And volunteer medical personnel were sent to South Africa to train on how to handle and manage the disease. Sensitization campaigns have been carried out in major towns around Sierra Leone.
In four years time it will spread to chiefdoms around And on the 19th. of November 2022 at the Bo School lecture room, a training was conducted for lab technicians and other medical practitioners on the causes , signs and symptoms, managing and minimizing the cause of the disease.
Mr Koroma said that they will be “giving free diagnosis” to suspected cases and try to end the “ignorance and misinterpretation” about the disease. As a way of remedy patients are advised to eat green vegetables and not to get involved in too vigorous sporting activities.
The session formed a question and answer forum where expert laboratory technicians and medical doctors answered critical questions about the disease. It is sponsored by Novo Nodis Haemophilia Foundation And vote of thanks was given by a volunteer.