DISCLAIMER
The information and materials accessed through or made available for use on any of our Sites, including, any information about diseases, conditions, treatments, or medicines, are for informational purposes only. The Content is not intended to be and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment, and your participation on our Sites does not create a healthcare professional-patient relationship. You should consult a doctor or other qualified health care professional regarding any questions you have about your health or before making any decisions related to your health or wellness. Call your doctor or 911 immediately if you think you may have a medical emergency.compose your message
message sent
email sent successfully
Trusted Resources: Community Center
Online groups, photo galleries and blogs
We Had a Chance to Wipe Out Sickle Cell. And, We Didn’t
Today, about 100,000 Americans live with sickle cell disease. But there was a moment in the early 1970s when it seemed it was going to be wiped out.
The inherited blood disorder mostly affects people of African descent, as well as Mediterranean and South Indian peoples.
American civil rights organizations had been calling for greater attention to sickle cell anemia throughout the ’60s. President Richard Nixon singled it out in an address to Congress in 1971, and research funding was increased fivefold.
Yet the result was what Boston pediatrician and sickle cell specialist Patricia Kavanagh called “the poster child of what not to do” when it comes to public health.

Related Content
-
education & researchWhite Matter Damage Relates to Oxygen Saturation in Children With Sickle Cell Anemia Without Silent Cerebral Infarct...BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Sickle cell ane...
-
news & eventsMy medical school lesson was tinged with racism. Did that affect how I treated a sickle cell patient years later?The young woman was curled up in a ball....
-
education & researchHigher Executive Abilities Following a Blood Transfusion in Children and Young Adults With Sickle Cell DiseaseIndividuals with sickle cell disease (SC...
-
people & placesJennifer Krajewski, MDJennifer Krajewski has served the Pediat...
-
videos & visualsPatient Perspective: Childhood Experiences of Sickle Cellhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=982zM-s4...
-
news & eventsSickle cell cure is real, as this Kansas patient provesIntense pain. Fatigue. Repeated infectio...
-
news & eventsGene therapy may help cure sickle cell disease, study saysA gene therapy that could provide a perm...
send a message
To improve your experience on this site, we use cookies. This includes cookies essential for the basic functioning of our website, cookies for analytics purposes, and cookies enabling us to personalize site content. By clicking on 'Accept' or any content on this site, you agree that cookies can be placed. You may adjust your browser's cookie settings to suit your preferences. More Information
The cookie settings on this website are set to "allow cookies" to give you the best browsing experience possible. If you continue to use this website without changing your cookie settings or you click "Accept" below then you are consenting to this.