This Sickle Cell Awareness Month we are highlighting that every year, people with sickle cell who receive regular transfusions need on average 100 blood donors a year to stay alive.
The NHS urgently needs12,000 new Black donors this year to regularly give blood to treat sickle cell.
From the NHS, “Sickle cell disease is the name for a group of inherited health conditions that affect the red blood cells. The most serious type is called sickle cell anaemia. People with sickle cell disease produce unusually shaped red blood cells that can cause problems because they do not live as long as healthy blood cells and can block blood vessels. Sickle cell disease is a serious and lifelong health condition, although treatment can help manage many of the symptoms.”
When people with sickle cell receive blood from a donor with the same ethnicity as them, it provides the best possible treatment – in just 1 hour, you could save up to 3 lives. Register now on blood.co.uk.