Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a very common disease affecting 1 in 2000 live births in the UK.

SCD is a genetic condition which causes blood cells to stick together and block blood vessels all over the body which an immense amount of pain which can be fatal!

The blood vessels can become blocked in the brain to cause a stroke, the eyes to cause blindness, the kidneys to cause kidney failure, the heart to cause heart attacks, the liver and spleen to cause several complications. The blockage of any blood vessel in the body is known as a sickle cell crises episode.
People with sickle cell disease are also at higher risk of infections.

There are many ways suggested in medicine to help prevent a crises episode such as diet and lifestyle advice, keeping warm, regular mild to moderate exercise, however, these measures do not prevent patients with sickle cell from having a crises episode. 

People with sickle cell disease or carers of people with sickle cell disease often face financial difficulties as a result of not being able to fully carry out activities of daily living, increased spending on medications, frequent hospital visits and stays etc. 

Under the Equality Act 2010 Section 6(1), a person has a disability if they have a physical or mental impairment and “the impairment has a substantial and long‐term adverse effect on [the person’s] ability to carry out normal day‐to‐day activities.” In law, a diagnosis of sickle cell disorder (SCD) is not automatically a disability, despite SCD meeting several of the criteria given in guidance.
These include but are not limited to:
Some normal day‐to‐day activities (lifting, walking, repetitive movements, sitting or standing for long periods) cause pain.
Some normal day‐to‐day activities (lifting loads, walking, long hours, shift work) cause fatigue.
Chronic pain is strongly associated with depression, so some with SCD who develop depression will also meet the legal criterion of mental impairment, which further impacts their abilities.

Sickle cell disease therefore results in a significantly reduced quality of life and reduced life expectancy.

SCD has the same complications as those seen in type 2 diabetes, however the benefits that people with type 2 diabetes have are far greater than people living with SCD. 
These include free prescriptions, disability living allowance (DLA), DLA for parents with children who have diabetes, free eye checks, housing benefit, employment And support allowance, personal independence payment, attendance allowance and pension credit.

Unfortunately because SCD predominantly affects BME groups, the government does not provide much funding in this area of medicine. This is definitely a type of racial injustice and MUST BE CHANGED!

PLEASE SIGN this petition to include Sickle Cell Disease as a disability in the Equality Act 2010 so these patients can also receive all the benefits they need as outlined above. 

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