Mark Your Calendar
Sickle Cell Awareness Day and Month
To help bring greater attention to Sickle Cell Disease, two dedicated times each year are recognized across the Sickle Cell community. These observances play an important role in advocacy, education, and support. They are:
About Sickle cell
SICKLE CELL AWARENESS DAY: june 19
In 2008, the General Assembly of the United Nations recognized June 19th as World Sickle Cell Awareness Day through a resolution aimed at increasing public knowledge about Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) and raising awareness of the challenges faced by individuals living with the disease and their families. While the resolution has yet to be formally adopted as international law, the day is widely observed around the world, including here in Ontario and across Canada.
On November 22, 2017, the Canadian House of Commons passed Bill S-211 to designate June 19th of each year as “National Sickle Cell Awareness Day.” The Bill received Royal Assent on December 12, 2017, making it official Canadian law. The Bill was sponsored by Senator Jane Cordy from Nova Scotia.
Sickle Cell Awareness Month: September
The annual observance of National Sickle Cell Awareness Month originated in 1975 when the National Association for Sickle Cell Disease (NASCD) in the United States and its member organizations began conducting month-long events to raise awareness about sickle cell disease and the need to address the problem at the national and local level.
The NASCD (now called the Sickle Cell Disease Association of America, Inc.- SCDAA) and its member organizations sponsored public educational programs and fundraising activities during the month. State and local government officials issued Sickle Cell Month proclamations and were introduced to local poster children.
The SCDAA tradition of selecting a national poster child (now called the Child Ambassador Contest) from local candidates began in 1976 with President Gerald Ford greeting the first winner(8-year-old Bridgete Earby of Oakland, California) at the White House. Presidents Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton and Obama have also greeted the national poster child.
The effort to have Sickle Cell Month officially recognized at all levels succeeded in 1983 when the U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed the resolution, introduced by the Congressional Black Caucus, asking President Reagan to issue a proclamation designating the month of September as “National Sickle-Cell Anemia Awareness Month.” President Reagan signed Proclamation 5102 in September, 1983 inviting “all Americans to join…in reaffirming our commitment to reduce the burden of illness, disability, and premature death imposed by this disease.”
Although no official designation of Sickle Cell Month has been made in Canada, the month is usually recognized by the organizations supporting the Sickle Cell community in Canada.