Mrs Chantal Biya yesterday, Dec 23, 2013, boosted the capacity of her Foundation to carry out sickle cell screening for new-born babies. 

Christmas jamboree at the Chantal Biya Foundation (FCB) had a special twist this year. The event which took place yesterday December 23, 2013 at the Foundation was not all about the sharing of gifts and other goodies. The Founding President of the Foundation, who is also UNESCO’s Goodwill Ambassador for Education and Social Inclusion, Mrs Chantal Biya, took an audacious step to curb the sickle cell disease amongst babies.

While spending a wonderful time sharing Christmas gifts to sick children at her Foundation, the pinnacle of her time with the kids was when she made a stop at the Sickle Cell ward of the Luc-Montagnier Pavillon of the Foundation. She used a medical kit to collect the blood samples of babies in a bid to check their sickle cell status.

This act by the First Lady launched not only a national campaign to screen new-borns for Sickle Cell but also the capacity of her Foundation to carry-out Sickle Cell screening for babies at birth. While launching the Sickle Cell Campaign Programme, Madame Chantal Biya was assisted by the President of the International Association for the Fight against Sickle Cell, Edwige Ebakisse-Badassou, and a representative from the NGO, Médecins du Monde Suisse, Patricia Schwarzler.

The Director of the Mother and Child Centre of the Foundation, Professor Paul Koki Ndombo told pressmen that the Sickle Cell campaign at the Foundation will be exceptional because the Foundation has just received a Chromatography Machine for the detecting of sickle cell anaemia. While at the Sickle Cell ward, the First Lady also took time to inaugurate the functioning of the machine which is a gift from the International Association for the Fight against Sickle Cell. With the Chromatography Machine at FCB, Pr. Koki said they are working in collaboration with the Yaounde Central Hospital maternity to freely check the sickle cell status of babies.

Before visiting the Sickle Cell ward, Mrs Biya stopped at the esplanade of the Jeanne Irene Biya Pavillon where she placed a bouquet of flowers on a statue in honour of the late First Lady. She later listened to some Christmas carols from the “La Voix Du Cenacle” choir. Together with her special guest, the renowned musician Fally Ipupa, and a host of other dignitaries and members of government, the First Lady went to the Children First Centre of the Foundation, where she communed with abandoned and destitute children.

While moving though the Foundation, dance groups from all the nooks and crannies in the country saluted the humanitarian actions of the UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Education and Social Inclusion. Pupils from some schools in Yaounde as well as those on external consultation had a pleasant surprise from their Maman Chantal Biya as they also went home with a Christmas parcel. As the First Lady made an unusual stop along the road, on her way back to the Unity Palace, she personally wished the passers-by “Happy Christmas” with a warm handshake.