Mary Chapman, features writer —

To help bring awareness this month to sickle cell disease (SCD) and childhood cancers, the supplemental insurance provider Aflac recently engaged young patients with those disorders at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital in south Florida through its My Special Aflac Duck social robot program. September is National Sickle Cell Awareness…

A cohort of African health ministers, with support from the African regional office of the World Health Organization (WHO), has opened a campaign to improve sickle cell disease (SCD) awareness, prevention, and care in that continent, where most SCD patients reside. The effort seeks to curb the blood disorder’s…

In a move to enhance three decades of treatment development in rare hematology, Pfizer will acquire Global Blood Therapeutics (GBT), a biopharmaceutical company that has been a leader in sickle cell disease (SCD) therapeutics, for $5.4 billion. The acquisition brings GBT’s treatment portfolio and pipeline — and its…

A public policy alliance has launched to advocate for federal policies that address the “crisis of care” facing the approximately 100,000 sickle cell disease (SCD) patients in the U.S. The ad-hoc alliance, called the Sickle Cell Disease Partnership, comprises more than a dozen groups representing patient advocates, healthcare…

A comprehensive integrated sickle cell disease (SCD) clinic in southern California — funded by a $500,000 state grant — has been established to support the “highly affected” SCD patient population in San Bernardino County, according to a press release. The community clinic is housed at Loma Linda University…

From sporting the color red to “shining a light” on sickle cell, supporters are set to mark World Sickle Cell Day June 19 to call attention to the inherited blood disorder that affects millions of people globally and about 100,000 in the U.S. In addition to raising awareness, the event…

The University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) will use a portion of a $169,500 grant from the UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Mississippi on sickle cell disease (SCD) treatment and provider training. The funding, which will also support UMMC’s efforts to address pediatric behavioral health issues throughout Mississippi, is…

Blood donation restrictions in England that had prevented at least 12,000 Black donors from giving blood were lifted by the country’s government late last year in what the Sickle Cell Society called “a landmark change.” Now, citing “an urgent need” in the U.K. for blood donation from Black donors…

The GBT Foundation is calling for proposals for its Access to Care Empowerment for Sickle Cell (ACE) grant program, which will provide up to $250,000 to community-based sickle cell disease (SCD) organizations to accelerate development of care access programs for SCD patients. The ACE program, which was established this…

The supplemental insurance provider Aflac is expanding its “My Special Aflac Duck” social robot program to benefit children with sickle cell disease (SCD). Healthcare professionals and nonprofit organizations can order the life-sized robotic companion for free for children ages 3 and up who have cancer or SCD.