Sickle cell disease fears spark urgent appeal for Black blood donors

19 April 2023 , 23:01

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Dame Sharon White is backing the appeal (Image: Handout)

An urgent appeal has been made for Black blood donors to help those with agonising conditions such as sickle cell disease.

Some of the most influential Black people in Britain - including John Lewis partnership chairwoman Dame Sharon White and Lord Simon Woolley - have joined efforts to raise awareness of the shortage.

Just 1% of active donors in England are Black.

Sickle cell disease, when red blood cells are sickle shaped not circular, mainly afflicts people with Afro-Caribbean heritage.

Patients need regular transfusions from ethnically matched blood to prevent painful blockages that damage major organs and can cause a fatal stroke.

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Dame Sharon said: “Black people are more likely to suffer sickle cell. By increasing Black heritage donors we can go a long way to ensuring all across England receive best matched blood.”

Lord Simon Woolley hopes to raise awareness of the issue (PA)

Sickle cell is the fastest growing genetic condition in the UK and the number of donations needed to treat it has grown from 150 to 250 a day over just five years.

Some 55% of Black people in the UK have Ro subtype blood needed for transfusions, compared with 2% of the general population.

Dame Sharon told the Mirror: “So my family has a sickle cell trait but it never developed into sickle cell.

“I’ve had close friends very badly affected. They were very seriously ill. There was a child I knew who knew and their schooling was very interrupted. They were very poorly. Anything I can do to help in future is a great privilege.

“I used to be a regular blood donor probably about 20 or so years ago. I was in the civil service at the time and those were the days when blood transfusion centre used to come to your work place.

“Then I went to live in the States and had children so slightly got out of the habit. The fact that this [campaign] might encourage others to step forward particularly those from an African Caribbean community where you’ve probably seen a very, very small proportion of blood and yet the need is great.

“Not least because of obviously sickle cell anaemia is such a big issue among the Afro Caribbean community. I’ve always felt it was it’s such a small thing to do, but can have such a big impact.”

Martin Bagot