Imagine you have an incurable illness.
Imagine this illness can cause ten times the pain intensity of extreme labour.
Imagine you go into a hospital and no one seems to know what is wrong with you.
Now imagine explaining to a doctor why you need so much morphine it would kill a normal human being several times over.
Now imagine you are accused of being a drug addict.
Now imagine that without adequate care you could die.
Now imagine you have Sickle Cell Anaemia.

"Sickle Cell Anaemia" is a hard hitting documentary looking into the genetic illness and its implications for people living with the condition in today's society.

Despite the fact that there are a large number of people with the condition, there is no current nation wide protocol for the management and treatment of the illness. Where there is a protocol it is often not observed through lack of knowledge or understanding.

A horrific and devastatingly painful illness, sometimes fatal without adequate care, underesearched, underfunded, we aim to produce a factual yet shocking account of how people cope with not only the disease but the ignorance and myths surrounding it.

This is a global issue affecting millions of people worldwide. There are estimated to be over 10,000* sufferers in London alone. excluding those who carry the trait. As yet, there is no national strategic approach to co-ordinating information on the total number of full sufferers and trait carriers. The implications for present and future generations cries out for our immediate attention.

The aim of the project is to improve the quality of the lives of those who suffer with the illness and their families. We hope to achieve this by bringing the illness to the attention of the wider community through an open debate. We would also hope to improve the quality of education about the illness, that is given to the primary carers in this field.

In addition to the documentary we aim to produce a self help video. The video will be truthful, positive and informative detailing new techniques for the management of the illness, possible cures, social support, counselling services and will look at the lives of a group of successful Sicklers living with the condition.

We will also profile the life of Steve Hussain who was researching the illness culminating in a Ph.D. before he tragically died in March 1997. The project will  dedicated to him and all that he achieved.
 

For further information on Sickle Cell contact:
The Organisation for Sickle Cell Anaemia Research (OSCAR) at
55 Stockwell Road,
Brixton,
London SW9
Tel: 0171 274 5999

or

The Sickle Cell Society
54 Station Road,
Harlesden,
London NW10
Tel: 0181 961 4006

For the film project contact:
The Carol Winifred Film Studio,
Pavilion Studio,
Goldsmith Avenue,
West Hendon,
London NW9 7EU.
Tel: 0181 205 6209
Fax: 0181 205 6209.