JUNE 19th: WORLD SICKLE CELL AWARENESS DAY.
World Sickle Cell Day is a United Nation’s recognised day to raise awareness on sickle cell at a national and international level. On December 22, 2008, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution recognizing sickle cell disease as a public health problem and “one of the world’s foremost genetic diseases.” The resolution calls for members to raise awareness of sickle cell on the 19th of June each year. The international awareness day is observed annually with the goal to increase public knowledge and an understanding of sickle cell disease, and the challenges experienced by patients and their families and caregivers. Sickle cell disease is an inherited blood disorder usually diagnosed at birth. Most people with the disease begin to show symptoms by 4 months of age or shortly thereafter. Genes come in pairs. One set is inherited from the mother and one set from the father. To be born with sickle cell disease, a child has t...