The Sickle Cell Cares Foundation, launched in January 2014, in an effort to raise awareness of Sickle Cell Disease in Dominica and the wider Caribbean region is continuing on its awareness campaign with a photo competition dubbed, “Wear Red for Sickle Cell”
Last year, the Foundation, partnering with Felicia Truong MD, donated a blood refrigerator to the Princess Margaret Hospital and wants to build upon this achievement through targeted awareness programs and interventions.
The rules for the competition include liking the Foundation’s official Facebook page and submitting a photo in Red before or on June 17th via the group’s email address: [email protected]. Competition participants gain a chance to win a painting from renowned Dominican artist Earl Ettienne or Petros Maeza, an Ethiopian artist who now calls Dominica his home.
The competition which is being run through the Foundation’s social media account on Facebook targets mainly youth and hopes that through the activity, it can raise the group’s profile among the youthful population. The foundation also hopes that it can generate interest for its volunteer program which will be given added emphasis later in 2016.
The winner of the photo competition will be announced on June 24.
Future plans of the Foundation include a volunteer drive, formalizing a sickle cell registry/database:
· Continuing to partner with the MOH and CAREST (Caribbean Association for Research on Sickle Cell & Thalassemia to make Newborn Screening a reality,
· Greater public education about sickle cell disease and best practices for management of sickle cell disease,
· Developing a support network to equip individuals and families with sickle cell disease coping strategies for maintenance of health and well-being.
It is a great idea to raise awareness about this illness but why use the colour red when red is already associated with so many other things: love, a political party, Christmas, many corporations’ color, among others?
There are people who will never wear red because it is the colour of the Dominica Labour Party, which they do not support. Attempts should be made to adopt another color that is not aligned or that is less aligned. What about fuchsia? it is close to red but not exactly red.
Keep up the good work Sickle Cell Cares.