Chief Julie Coker wanted to amplify the plight of Sickle Cell sufferers during the Covid-19 pandemic, so a gathering of supporters was organised outside No. 10 Downing Street, London SW1 on July 25, 2020.

On the occasion of her momentous 80th Birthday Celebrations, it was a good opportunity to raise awareness of the continued plight of Sickle Cell Sufferers.  Individuals of any age with blood disorders such as sickle cell disease may be at an increased risk of developing serious COVID-19 symptoms. These individuals should follow general guidelines to keep their immune systems strong. People with SCD (Sickle Cell Disease) often have underlying cardiopulmonary co-morbidities that may predispose them to poor outcomes if they become infected with SARS-CoV-2.

According to the Sickle Cell Society : 

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, some groups of patients have been classed as ‘clinically extremely vulnerable’ and advised to ‘shield’ in order to avoid becoming infected. These include people with inherited anaemias, including:

Sickle cell disease
Thalassaemia (transfusion dependent and non-transfusion dependent)
Diamond Blackfan anaemia
Congenital dyserythropoietic anaemia
Congenital sideroblastic anaemia
Pyruvate kinase deficiency (with and without a spleen)
Hereditary Spherocytosis (with and without a spleen)
Other types of rare inherited anaemia

For further information please see :

https://www.sicklecellsociety.org/coronavirus-and-scd/

A number of supporters joined this occasion including Chief Fundraiser Baba-Jallah Epega – amongst several others.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0zJmglY8oI