SCHAF
in collaboration with Global Masters Institute, Canada through Pharmacist
Opeyemi Akindele recently marked a significant milestone in introducing the use
of Point of Care Test (PoCT)to Corp members in Oyo state. The currently
available method of Cellulose Acetate Electrophoresis (CAE) is prone to several
human errors. This has led to a lot of misdiagnosis resulting in several
challenges among couples with children living with Sickle Cell Disease. The
transfer of samples from one location to another, the challenge of constant
power outage essential for running the samples, sometimes the corner cutting
issues due to escalating cost of the CAE where strips are reused in some labs have
led to repetitive quest for diagnosis by many individuals. SCHAF has moved to
the use of HemotypeSC Point of Care Test with individualized result within a
scope of 15 minutes without a chance of human errors in diagnosis. Point of
Care Test can be made available anywhere in the field, at patient’s bed side
without the use of sophisticated lab equipments and without the fear of power
outage. The use of Point of Care Test was demonstrated at the Corpers Trainer
event on 25th September 2023. This is expected to improve haemoglobinopathy diagnosis
to better reduce the burden of SCD in Nigeria.