Parents and relations of children living with sickle cell disease in Cameroon have gone on the offensive by labelling them ‘sorcerers’ and meting death sentences to them. Now he is at peace.”What the boy really suffered from was sickle-cell disease, a genetic condition that causes abnormally shaped red blood cells and a variety of complications. The marabouts showed us that sickle-cell children came into the world to torture us and spend all our money,” said the frail 32-year-old. “In Cameroon, sickle-cell disease is synonymous with discrimination, the disease of shame, something mystical,” said Fernand Tekoua, president of the National Association of People with Sickle-Cell Disease. When she found out he had sickle-cell disease two years ago, her partner abandoned her and she never took the boy to the hospital again.

Source: Punch May 28, 2018 12:48 UTC