provide closely matched blood for patients with sickle cell disease when they’re in crisis. As blood transfusion is the primary treatment to treat the complication of this disease. So, the more blood that we have on the shelves, the greater the likelihood that those complications will decrease and that they’ll be able to live their healthiest and best lives.
Is there any way that your job has changed or shaped the way that you think compared to when you took this role?
Almost every single day someone or some organization is reaching out to me to give me an opportunity to be an advocate and elevate my voice, as well as elevate the voices and the needs of patients and families with sickle cell disease. I am in such an incredibly important place where Black voices are being heard. I am proud of the work I am doing and the work that the American Red Cross is doing in this space.
We talked a lot about sickle cell as a whole and the importance of breaking health disparities in the Black community. Is there anything else you wanted people to know about sickle cell, something that they may not know?
One of the most important things that people can do is be screened for the sickle cell trait (SCT). At the American Red Cross, someone who self-identifies as African American is screened for sickle cell trait. We’re focusing on this population because in this country the great majority of people who have sickle cell trait are African American or of African descent, but anyone of any background can have sickle cell disease or sickle cell trait. I’d encourage everyone to know their sickle cell trait status because it’s so important for many aspects of their lives.
It’s so simple and so important to donate a unit of blood. We are working to make it convenient for the African American community to donate blood close to the community. I’d encourage everyone to download the Red Cross Blood Donor App because you can make your appointment in the app. Just enter your Zip code and it will tell you the closest donation site. We have a tremendous amount of information on our website, redcrossblood.org, about the importance of donating blood, specifically in relation to the Black community. You can find a multitude of information about why it’s important for Black communities to donate blood.
It’s been a joy watching all of this growth and watching the Red Cross step into that space of addressing health disparities in our community.
You mentioned a lot about what the Red Cross is working on and the progress that’s been made. What’s next for you? Are there any other projects that you are working on?
Right now, my team and I are in the process of working on a manuscript that we’re going to publish about the work we are doing. I’m working with several other people in the community to get information out about the importance of diversity. Only about 3% of blood donors in this country are African American or Black. We have a tremendous amount of work to do to educate on how we can increase the diversity of the blood donor pool. Those are some of the things that I am working on individually as well as collectively with my cohorts in this space.
Is there anything else you’d like to add?
I always like to end every conversation with a call to action to encourage anyone in the African American community to donate blood. If we don’t support and help each other, who will? We should encourage everyone to donate blood. Even if you cannot donate blood, be an advocate in the community, talk about it, and make sure that people know it’s important to donate. That’s my call to action.