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People with sickle cell have been advised not to marry each other, as that is the only way to prevent the sickle cell disease. A former haematologist of the Ghana Medical School, Korle-Bu, Professor George Ankrah-Badu, who gave the advice, said education on the prevention of the disease was crucial to reducing the occurrence of the disease in future generations. She was speaking at a ceremony in Accra yesterday to mark this year�s World Sickle Cell Day. The sickle cell disease is a blood disorder caused by inheriting two abnormal haemoglobins, at least, one of which is haemoglobin S from parents. Haemoglobin SS, Haemoglobin SC and Sickle Bo and B+ thalassaemia are the common forms in Ghana. It is a life-long disease requiring management from birth until death. Professor Ankrah�Badu, therefore, called on pre-marital counsellors to ensure that prospective couples went through genetic counselling and testing in order to make informed choices. Sickle Cell Day The day was celebrated on the theme: �Stop stigmatisation, know your status� and focused on curtailing stigmatisation and getting everybody to know their status Professor Ankrah�Badu said early diagnoses of the disease ensured its effective management and therefore appealed to all to get tested. While acknowledging that the disease was very challenging for both patients and care givers, Professor Ankrah-Badu said with proper management, a patient could live his or her life span, adding that the disease was not a death sentence. He cautioned against stigmatising people living with sickle cell conditions by referring to them as �sicklers� or assigning demonic meanings to the ailments. Professor Ankrah�Badu called for increased public awareness in schools, communities, health institutions and the media. The Chief Director of the Ministry of Health, Ms Salamatu Abdul-Salem, said the Sickle cell disease was a contributing factor to maternal and infant mortality. According to her, Ghana could not achieve MDG four and five without proper management of the disease. She said the Ghana Health service was currently reviewing the Maternal and child health policy and, therefore, called on the centre to direct their concerns to the service to ensure that the challenges of the centre was addressed in the policy.