Hammersmith & Fulham Public Health Team are keen to take on discrete pieces of work where public health measures could be implemented to support our communities living with chronic illnesses to prevent hospitalisations and improve health. Their first focal area will be on Sickle Cell Disorder to reduce hospitalisations of people with this condition as a result of preventable painful crises.
The public health team will work closely with the African Caribbean Leukaemia Trust (ACLT) to increase awareness of blood disorders and the need for more blood donors.
ACLT and NHS Blood & Transplant will be hosting a special blood donation drive, from 10am to 6pm On Saturday 9th of December at the Blood Donation Centre in Westfield’s Shopping Centre in White City.
We are inviting the African Caribbean community to donate blood to assist those living with Sickle Cell Disorder and to register their interest in becoming a stem-cell and organ donor.
This event, will be amplified with performances by influential UK R&B singers outside of the blood donor clinic to generate interest and increase impact.
The work of ACLT is crucial to ensure there is support for the 15,000 Sickle Cell Warriors living in the UK.
Sickle cell refers to a group of genetic health conditions which affect a person’s red blood cells. It predominantly affects people with an African or Caribbean heritage.
Sickle Cell Disorder is the fastest growing genetic condition on the UK and figures reveal a record 250 blood donations are required every day to treat sickle cell disorder.
Many people with sickle cell disorder have the Ro subtype. The condition is often treated with regular blood transfusions and blood exchanges and subtypes, such as Ro, are important in ensuring patients get blood which is most compatible with their blood type and subtype.
Some Sickle cell patients, rely on blood transfusions or red-cell exchanges to treat their condition to potentially reduce the number of crises they may have.
Each year, a regularly transfused patient with sickle cell disorder will need an average of 100 blood donors to stay alive. Approx. 300 babies a year are born with sickle cell disorder.
ACLT Co-Founders Beverley De-Gale OBE, and Orin Lewis OBE are reaching out to influential people in the community to set an example by donating blood for transfusion purposes to support NHS Blood & Transplant’s urgent call for more blood donors of Black heritage.
‘Our end goal for this event is to raise further awareness by engaging audiences through music, it’s so important to educate and encourage all ethnicities to be regular blood donors, to ensure there is enough well matched blood to meet demand.’
