About the event
Join us for a led by Professor Gus John, seeking to raise awareness and understanding of sickle cell disease and its impact upon the health and wellbeing of its sufferers, so that the latter might receive the treatment and support they require. Sickle cell disease is a genetically determined blood disorder that affects the red blood cells, thus leading to various forms of ill health and lack of general wellness. Sickle cell anaemia is the most serious form of the disease and its severity could lead to life threatening crises for young children as well as adults.
People most likely to be affected by sickle cell disease are those from Africa and the African Diaspora (Caribbean, North America, Latin America, South America), the Middle East, Eastern Mediterranean and Asia.
Some 40 per cent (and rising) of Coventry University’s student population are from those backgrounds and yet awareness among staff and fellow students, domestic and international, of the possibility of them, or their peers, carrying the sickle cell trait or having sickle cell disease remains patchy, to say the least.
The seminar is intended to:
• Explore how Sickle Cell affects students and staff
• Gain students’ and staff’s views of how knowledgeable the institution is of Sickle Cell and the impact the disorder could have on Sickle Cell sufferers
• Assess the effectiveness of the support systems that are available to students at CU
• share knowledge and understanding of Sickle Cell and how it affects sufferers
• identify the support that health practitioners, student services providers, academic staff and fellow students could provide for Sickle Cell sufferers
• provide guidance to staff in residences as to how to identify and respond to Sickle Cell sufferers who might be having a crisis
• assist sufferers who might wish to set up their own support networks
• identify ways of making sure that CU’s Registry, GPs and other health practitioners are made aware of the risk that students with Sickle Cell anaemia face
• suggest how all of the above might be addressed in induction programmes for freshers and for staff joining the university.
Programme
17:30 Registration
18:00 Welcome and Introduction - Tochukwu Ajare, President of CUSU, Student Governor
18:10 Prof Gus John - Visiting Professor, Strategic Management, Vice Chancellor’s Office
18:30 Revd Anthony Mason - Chair of Sickle Cell Manchester and co-founder of Caribbean & African Health Network (CAHN), Manchester
19:10 Q & A - Chaired by Prof Gus John
20:00 Closing Remarks - Nyaknno Moses, CUSU Vice President (Activities), Trustee