Ms Lora Ruth Wogu:

Most of the adults we have met have already had their children, and they did not realise they had the sickle cell trait. That means that they do not know if their children have a sickle cell gene as well. With that we are trying to encourage them to get the test done by their GPs, but the main question they ask is who will pay for it. They feel they have to go the GP just to get the sickle cell test. After all, they just have the gene and they are not sick, so they are really not bothered about that. We believe that if we have the screening, they will not think about having to pay the €20 or €40 to get the sickle cell gene tested. Everybody will know what they are carrying. Most people get the test done, but they are not given the results, so they really do not know whether they have the sickle cell gene as well. We may find that there are a lot of people with the sickle cell trait and they do not know.