World Sickle Cell Awareness Day is commemorated on 19th June 2023, every year to serve a powerful reminder of the global impact of sickle cell disease and the urgent need for increased awareness, support, and advocacy.

Indeed, the global theme for this year’s commemoration is: “Building and Strengthening Global Sickle Cell Communities, Formalizing Newborn Screening and Knowing Your Sickle Cell Disease Status.”

The celebration provides an invaluable opportunity to bring together communities, healthcare professionals, policymakers, and individuals living with sickle cell disease to address the challenges of those affected and also to be given advice on how to live with them.

Sickle-Cell Disease (SCD) is an inherited blood disorder that causes “sickle” shaped red blood cells that can stick together, blocking blood flow and oxygen from reaching all parts of the body. People with this disease can experience serious pain (also known as pain crises), anemia, infection, and other serious health problems that may require treatment by a healthcare provider.

Children and adults with SCD often require care in the Emergency Department (ED) of a hospital or clinic for treatment when health problems such as pain crises cannot be managed at home. SCD affects millions of people worldwide and in Uganda over 20,000 children are born with sickle cells every year.

COU Family TV engaged Dr. Ssekawu Barnabas, a sickle cell disease activist.

People living with SCD seek care in the Emergency Department an average of three times a year from their late teens to their late 50s. Studies have shown that patients with SCD frequently have difficulty getting proper treatment when they arrive in the ED.

Treatment of sickle cell anemia may not be easily available, so, Dr. Ssekawu emphasizes prevention through the screening of couples before they produce children.

He, however, advises that the best way to live with sickle cell disease is to find good medical care, get regular checkups, prevent infections, and learn healthy habits. Dr. Ssekawu appeals to the Ministry of Health to do more sensitization about the disease since many people are still ignorant about it while others believe in myths about the disease.

Nandera Ritah