Sickle Cell AGM highlights failure of government

The Sickle Cell Society held their annual general meeting on 14 July 2007 at the Emmanuel Centre where they highlighted the poor support from the NHS, discriminatory allocation of resources by government and the lack of information about the range of cures and treatments available which were having a detrimental effect on sufferers and their families.

Unlike people with other long term debilitating conditions, sickle cell sufferers do not qualify for free prescriptions or the financial assistance for the additional expenditure incurred from the maintenance of adequate heating and travel expenses for frequent hospital visits. The fact that a substantial number of sufferers from sickle cell often live in socially and economically deprived areas merely adds to the financial pressure families face. A petition highlighting this unjust state of affairs has been instigated by Mrs Doreen Gowie and currently has 6,658 signatures.