Health Department to Host Free Workshops on Sickle Cell Disease

Sickle Cell Disease

The Virgin Islands Health Department’s Chronic Disease Division is offering free workshops in both districts that will feature presentations of overviews on Sickle Cell Disease in adults and children, according to a press release by the V.I. Department of Health issued on Monday.

The first workshop will take place from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 18, in the Sun Room at Schneider Regional Medical Center, St. Thomas.

The second workshop will take place from 5 to 7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 20 in Conference Room 1 at the Juan F. Luis Cardiac Center, St. Croix.

At both workshops, Dr. Erole McLean Hobdy will present an overview of sickle cell disease in adults and Dr. Karen Smith Wong will present an overview of sickle cell disease in children. Both presentations will be followed by a Q&A session.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the disease affects about 100,000 people, primarily African Americans, in the United States, and it occurs in about 1 of every 500 African American births and 1 in every 36,000 Hispanic-American births.

The disease affects millions of people around the world and is particularly common among those whose ancestors came from sub-Saharan Africa, the Caribbean, South America, Central America, Saudi Arabia, India and Mediterranean countries, such as Turkey, Greece and Italy.
For more information, go to www.cdc.gov/sicklecell.