World Sickle Cell Day is an annual day of recognition to raise international awareness around SCD and the challenges patients and families face when confronting this illness. At St. Jude, sickle cell is more than a disease that gets the spotlight for one day — it is a continuous effort to save children around the world.
When is World Sickle Cell Day?
World Sickle Cell Day, sometimes referred to as World Sickle Cell Awareness Day, is June 19.
What is sickle cell disease?
Sickle cell disease is a group of blood disorders that prevent the normal flow of blood in the body because of the effect on the hemoglobin within red blood cells.
- Hemoglobin is the main ingredient in red blood cells, helping them carry oxygen from the lungs to other parts of the body.
- Normal red blood cells have hemoglobin A, which helps keep red blood cells soft and round so they flow easily through small blood vessels.
- People with SCD have mostly hemoglobin S (also called sickle hemoglobin) in their red blood cells.
- Hemoglobin S can form hard fibers inside the red cells, causing them to reshape into a sickle (banana) shape. Abnormally shaped red blood cells cannot move through blood vessels easily and, at times, are blocked from delivering oxygen to some body tissues.
- SCD is always inherited (passed down in families).
- When one parent has sickle cell disease and the other carries only one of the abnormal genes, such as hemoglobin S, their child has a 1 in 2 (50%) chance of having SCD.
- When both parents carry a sickle cell gene but are not sick themselves, their child has a 25% (1 in 4) chance of having SCD.
Meet Za’Mya and her mom
Currently thriving, Za’Mya has been a patient at St. Jude since shortly after birth, when a newborn screening revealed she had sickle cell disease.
Facts about sickle cell disease
- Is the most common inherited blood disorder in the U.S., affecting about 100,000 Americans
- Can cause pain, infections, fevers, fatigue, strokes and organ damage, and can lower life expectancy by 20-30 years
- Impacts 1 out of every 13 Black people in the U.S. through the sickle cell trait, with a chance of having a child with the disease if both parents carry the trait
- Affects about 1 out of 365 African-American babies born in the U.S.
- Is most common in African-Americans and Hispanics, but can occur in any group
Sickle cell disease research at St. Jude
The first research grant that St. Jude ever received, in 1958, before the hospital was even built, was for the study of SCD. St. Jude subsequently launched the first comprehensive study of SCD and its impact on the Black population.
St. Jude has been part of major advances in sickle cell disease treatment over the last 60 years and continues to explore new cutting-edge curative therapies for the disease.
Learn more about our sickle cell research
Finding a cure for sickle cell disease
Scientific milestones mark the progress made by St. Jude toward finding a cure for sickle cell disease.
Making history
When St. Jude opened in 1962, Danny Thomas vowed the hospital would treat patients regardless of race, religion or ability to pay. In 1968, Dr. Rudolph Jackson became one of the first Black doctors at St. Jude.
Forging a path
Driven by the tragic loss of her daughter who was born with SCD, Maurice Walton Tate was a nurse who served in many sickle cell units and helped forge a path for others.
Meet Courtney and her mom
Courtney was diagnosed in utero with SCD. When Courtney was 2 months old, doctors at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital started her on drug treatment. Since then, Courtney has enrolled as an Ivy League student and is managing her health well.
Sickle cell disease research progress at St. Jude
Thanks to generous donors like you, St. Jude has made the following advances:
- Has one of the largest sickle cell programs in the country
- Treats more than 900 patients with sickle cell disease annually
- Offers seven different clinical trials for patients, including a CRISPR gene editing trial
- Leads the Sickle Cell Clinical Research and Intervention Program (SCCRIP), which studies how sickle cell disease progresses over time, and how we can improve the quality of life for sickle cell disease patients while we continue to search for cures
- Will invest $1.1 billion over the next six years to expand research and treatment programs to advance cures for childhood diseases such as sickle cell disease
Dr. Vernon Rayford shares thoughts on SCD research at St. Jude
Dr. Vernon Rayford is an internal medicine and pediatric specialist located in Tupelo, Mississippi. Dr. Rayford is a dedicated supporter of St. Jude and our work researching and treating diseases like SCD that disproportionately affect children of Black and Hispanic descent.
Help us find a cure for sickle cell patients
Unlike other hospitals, the majority of funding for St. Jude comes from generous donors.
Because of your support, we can provide children cutting-edge treatments not covered by insurance, at no cost to families.