An infographic about sickle cell disease which formed part of our campaign to raise awareness of the condition in the East Midlands has won a national award.
The graphic – ‘Living with Sickle Cell Disease’ – explains themes from recent research on sickle cell disease commissioned by CLAHRC Northwest London and carried out by the charity the Picker Institute Europe.
It was chosen as the winner of the National Institute for Health Research’s ‘Let’s Get Digital’ Awards in the Infographic category.
We used it during an awareness drive to educate people about the UK’s biggest genetic blood disorder launched in our region to coincide with World Sickle Cell Day, which takes place on Monday, June 19.
The condition is a genetic blood disorder affecting about 15,000 people in England, but two out of three people with it say doctors and nurses are not providing enough information, according to the first national survey into the condition.
Sickle cell disease is the name for a group of inherited conditions that affect the red blood cells, the most serious type is called sickle cell anaemia.
It mainly affects people of African, Caribbean, Middle Eastern, Eastern Mediterranean and Asian origin. In the UK, it is particularly common in people with an African or Caribbean family background.
People with sickle cell disease produce unusually shaped red blood cells that can cause problems because they do not live as long as healthy blood cells and they can become stuck in blood vessels.
