World Sickle Cell Awareness Day would be observed on Monday June 19, 2017, under the theme; “Living Well with Sickle Cell”.
Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) describes the inherited group of disorders of the haemoglobin (red part) of the blood. Sickle cell anaemia refers to the presence of the sickle haemoglobin which can cause red blood cells to assume a sickle/ crescent shape. It affects millions of people around the world, including both adults and children.

It is a potentially fatal disease and, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), is one of the main causes of premature death amongst children under the age of five in various African countries. However, it must be emphasised that sickle cell disease may affect persons of all ethnicities due to migration and inter-racial marriage.

Increased collabaoration
The observance comes at a time when there is increased collaboration between the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) and key partners and stakeholders as it relates to making for improved standards of care in departments providing care for persons with Sickle Cell Anemia and Thalassaemia at the institution.
Entities lending strong support to the GPHC in this regard include: the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO); the Association of Guyanese Nurses and Allied Professionals (AGNAP) in the United Kingdom; the Guyana Sickle Cell and Thalassaemia Association and other key stakeholders.

Already there are indications that much is being done to raise awareness and improve the standard of care at both adult and paediatric wards and clinics. Other aspects soon to be addressed include sharing the information in schools and at clinics nationally.
Meanwhile, PAHO/WHO on Tuesday, in a classic demonstration of its unwavering commitment to the advancement of health care in Guyana, donated two computers and two printers to the GPHC – one each for the medical clinic and the paediatric clinic at the institution.

Dr. Grace Waldron-White, Senior Registrar who, along with Senior Registrar in the Paediatric Medicine Department, Dr. Sherelyn Stanton, had earlier had dialogue with PAHO Resident Representative, Dr. William Adu Krow in relation to the collaboration, said that the donation of the computers was facilitate the development of a data base for adult and paediatric Sickle Cell and Thalassaemia patients.
More recently PAHO has partnered with the Guyana Sickle Cell and Thalassaemia Organization, as well as a few appropriate stakeholders (including the Sickle Cell non-governmental Organization called ‘FACES’), to improve the knowledge of Sickle Cell and Thalassaemia in Guyana.

“The aim is not just to improve the knowledge of the public, but to ensure that the medical personnel are well trained and know a lot about the disease; that they know how to manage it, so that our standard of care would be on par with that of the developed countries,” Dr. Stanton said.
“There are lots of things you can do that are not very costly, but would go a far way towards improving what the standard of care is,” the Pediatric Registrar said.

Kudos for AGNAP
Meanwhile, management and staff of the GPHC, as well as the Guyana Sickle Cell and Thalassaemia Association, Dr. Stanton and others, gratefully acknowledge the ongoing co-operation the Paediatric Department continues to receive from the AGNAP. GPHC lauds the selfless contribution of the AGNAP in the United Kingdom to health care in Guyana, in the area of training for their staff.

AGNAP just recently, was instrumental in securing a Commonwealth Professional Fellowship in London, UK for Dr. Stanton to receive training in Sickle Cell Anemia and Thalassaemia. The Fellowship focused on the identification and management of the two diseases. Dr. Stanton was the eighth staf of the GPHC to have undergone the training and the health care professionals are making an impact in diverse ways.
Dr. Stanton reiterates her gratitude to Dr. Bowman and the management and departmental staff of the GPHC’s Pediatric Department for their support in enabling her release, and essentially to AGNAP, the staff at the Central Middlesex Hospital and others for providing her with the training and other support, which can only redound to the good of the medical and paediatric wards of the GPHC.

The association (AGNAP) has been in existence for the last 29 years, and celebrated its Silver Jubilee (25 years) in 2013. It is kept going through dedicated fund raising efforts in the United Kingdom.
During their Silver Jubilee celebrations, then Director of Nursing Services, (GPHC), Sr. Audrey Corry in her greetings to AGNAP on behalf of the GPHC said: “We are immensely grateful and forever indebted to you for your unstinting support over the years, particularly in the areas of Education and Training for those nurses who continue to serve in Guyana. May our future generations of nurses continue the rich legacy of these past 25 years (as at 2013).