Rotary club of Kampala Kibuli is a registered entity chartered in 2008 to with the major objective of serving communities through the six avenues of Rotary

International.

Two years ago, the club took to helping in the fight against sickle cell disease mainly in awareness creation and screening. This is in collaboration Uganda Sickle Cell Rescue Foundation (USCRF) a registered non-profit organization working to promote sickle cell awareness while advocating against the associated stigma and discrimination.

What is sickle cell?

Sickle cell is the world’s most commonly known genetic disease affecting every community, religion and social class.

Uganda has the fifth highest sickle cell burden the Ministry of Health indicted that 13.5 per cent of our population carries the trait while out of every 150 people at least one has the sickle cell disease.

The prevalence of this condition varies by region and district with the mid Northern region having 17-21%, the East central 16.7%, mid-Eastern Uganda with 16.5% and the South -Western region with 4.1%.

Sickle cell causes progressive organ damage and episodes of severe pain and acute illness. These episodes result from the sticky and stiff red blood cells which clog in tiny blood vessels. Therefore, it is important for us to keep our children and adults with sickle cell condition as healthy as possible.