The Ontario NDP's platform includes a paragraph that addresses "anti-Black racism," mentioning Sickle Cell Anemia as one example of how black Canadians face more racism.
Sickle cell disease is an inherited blood disorder marked by defective hemoglobin. It inhibits the ability of hemoglobin in red blood cells to carry oxygen. Sickle cells tend to stick together, blocking small blood vessels causing painful and damaging complications, according to John Hopkins.
"We’ll establish a systematic review of the reality that Black Canadians are disproportionately impacted by HIV/AIDS, mental health issues, heart disease, hypertension, Sickle Cell, and stroke. We’ll pass the Ontario NDP’s Improve Access to Health Care Act to improve care for Sickle Cell patients in crisis," the section reads.
Medical News Today explains why black people are more likely to develop the disorder: "People with one sickle cell gene carry Sickle Cell Trait (SCT), which typically does not cause severe disease. However, African Americans are at a much higher risk of experiencing Sickle Cell Disease (SCD.) Researchers believe this could be because SCD evolved in human populations living where malaria is common, to help protect against the disease."
The disease has been a target of the New Democrats for some time now, with Ontario NDP MPP Jill Andrews tabling a bill that she said would help standardize protocols to reduce gaps and inconsistencies in health care for those with the disease.
"Shamefully, many with sickle cell are mistreated when they most need help – from being callously and racially profiled as drug-seeking to being subjected to incredibly long wait times, while still in pain," she said in November 2020.
The bill even earned praise from doctors such as Dr. Joel Moody with the Sickle Cell Association of Ontario, who said that the bill would improve care for people that suffer from the disease.
"The current pandemic has surfaced long-standing challenges people of colour with chronic conditions, such as sickle cell disease," he said, according to CityNews.
"Access to, efficient, effective, and quality health care should be an expectation for all Ontarians. When a group or segment of the population fails to realize that expectation, we as a society have failed."
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