For Black patients there are many barriers to sickle cell treatment, the biggest among them being lack of access to quality health care.
More African American Blood Donors Needed to Help Those With Sickle Cell Disease
By Karen Stokes According to the Versiti Blood Center webpage, Sickle Cell is an inherited condition that affects 1 out of every 400 African American births. It is caused by an abnormal type of hemoglobin (blood protein) that creates red blood cells that have an abnormal “sickle” shape instead of a normal disc shape. Sickle […]
EXCEPT WHERE INDICATED, THE OPINIONS EXPRESSED ON THIS PAGE ARE NOT NECESSARILY THOSE OF THE MADISON TIMES
Sickle Cell Anemia: A Clarion Call
By LaKeshia N. Myers As a teenager in the 1990s, life was good. I had no real responsibilities and a friend group rivaled by the (middle school) masses, and to top it off, we had the perfect soundtrack to narrate our young lives, TLC. The trio of Tionne ‘T-Boz’ Watkins, Lisa ‘Left Eye’ Lopez and […]
The Need For Blood Donations From People Of Color
By Ana Martinez-Ortiz Elodia Ontala Babongui, 29, had a stroke a couple years ago. Since then, she’s received chronic blood exchanges every five weeks. Getting a stroke at a young age may not seem that common, but for patients living with sickle cell disease, it’s just one of the many symptoms they have to deal […]
Milwaukee Woman Living with Sickle Cell says Every Day is a Question Mark
By Karen Stokes Elodie Ontala Babongui is a beautiful, educated woman that has a great job and is engaged to be married next year. The day I met her she was full of energy. That was a good day. Unfortunately, every day is a question mark concerning her health, living with sickle cell disease. “I […]
Ask Dr. Kevin: Out with the Old, In with a New Understanding to Improve SCD Care
By Dr. Kevin Williams (Chief Medical Officer, Pfizer Rare Disease Unit) The “Ask Dr. Kevin” series is brought to you by Pfizer Rare Disease in collaboration with the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) to increase understanding of sickle cell disease. With National Sickle Cell Awareness Month just next month, I’ve been thinking a lot about […]
Patients, Health Professionals Observe World Sickle Cell Day
By Stacy M. Brown (NNPA Newswire Contributor) It’s been 100 years since sickle cell disease (SCD), a hereditary blood disorder, was first discovered. And, according to health experts, it’s no secret that an alarming number of children and adolescence have died, and the condition remained in the province of pediatrics. Known as “the silent killer,” […]
Ask Dr. Kevin: Understanding Clinical Trials and Sickle Cell Disease in the Black Community
By Dr. Kevin Williams (Chief Medical Officer, Pfizer Rare Disease Unit) This article is the third installment in the “Ask Dr. Kevin” series, brought to you by Pfizer Rare Disease in collaboration with the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) to increase understanding of sickle cell disease. Clinical trials are critical to bringing new medicines to […]
Pfizer Officials Call For Blacks to Participate in Sickle Cell Disease Clinical Trials
By Joan H. Allen NNPA News Wire Contributor June 19, 2016 marks World Sickle Cell Day. In a desire to help create a greater awareness of sickle cell disease (SCD) and increase their efforts to find a cure, Pfizer invited members of the Black Press to meet and discuss with key members of their rare […]