Sickle Cell Screening for Students in Manchester

The Rotary Club of Mandeville, Manchester, has contributed $100,000 to the Sickle Cell Trust, for the screening of children in the parish.
President of the club, McClooney Blair, who made the presentation to the Trust recently, told JIS News that this was another move to improve and promote health care for children in Manchester.
“This year we are focusing on health care. We believe that this project is an excellent project, because it has a value of reducing child mortality. And, so we have come on board with this first installment of $100,000, and during the year we will provide other support to this project,” Mr. Blair informed.
Fifth and Sixth form students of the 15 secondary schools in Manchester are being targeted under the project. The screening is free of cost to the children and their families.
After accepting the donation, which took place at deCarteret College, in Manchester, Chairman of the Sickle Cell Trust, Professor Graham Sergeant, told JIS News that it would help, in a great way, to reach more children, as they seek to educate and prevent the disease.
“This is a great contribution, and the Rotary Club has been very supportive of our work. This project is to empower people to make informed decisions, because if they carry abnormal genes, they should know it, as their babies will be at risk to carry the disease,” Professor Sergeant said.
According to the Professor, the project, which is in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, with support from the Alcoa Foundation and the National Health Fund, will help to detect persons with the genes, which could result in babies being born with sickle cell. “This is followed by counselling to influence reproductive decisions leading to reduction in the number of babies born with the sickle cell disease. Such a reduction is vital to reduce the distress to families and the cost to the health services,” he said.