Raising awareness of Sickle Cell & Thalassaemia

On Thursday 31 July, the Leeds Sickle Cell and Thalassaemia Service joined together with Black Health Initiative to host an awareness event at St George’s Centre in the city centre.

Trina Glynn, clinical lead

The event was organised as it felt there was a lack of awareness in the city about the conditions and the services and treatments available. During the morning session, health professionals and practitioners were invited to listen to presentations from Dr Mike Richards, paediatric consultant, Trina Glynn, clinical lead from the Leeds Sickle Cell and Thalassaemia Service and patients that have used the service.

Dr Richards gave an informative presentation about the conditions as well as the treatments that are available. A few facts from his presentations;

·         In Leeds, the paediatric team works with 73 children who have sickle cell disease.  

·         The modern life expectancy of a person with sickle cell disease is 53 to 60 years. This has increased over recent years due to the available treatments.

·         A newborn child will be screened within four weeks to check for sickle cell

Trina followed Dr Richards presentation and talked about what the Leeds Sickle Cell and Thalassaemia Service offers. She talked through how they will work with patients to provide care, offer counselling, do screening as well as health promotion, particularly with employers as sickle cell can affect a person’s attendance at work. As the condition are not always evident, it is important that employers are aware of how it can affect a person.

Annette, guest speaker

Annette, who has sickle cell disease, and Maserat, who has Thalassaemia, spoke to the attendees about how they manage their health. They described how it has affected them, from their time at school or whilst at work, however they were very positive about how the conditions can be managed. Both described that there is stigma around having the conditions, however with events such as this, we can raise awareness and increase knowledge.

The morning session as well as the afternoon session, which the community were invited to, were both well attended. As well as the presentations, Carers Leeds, the Thalassaemia Society and the National Blood Service also had stalls for people to pick up information or speak to staff.

If you would like to find out more about the Leeds Sickle Cell and Thalassaemia Service, please click here.