After our founding, one of SCDAA’s earliest goals was to ensure the National Sickle Cell Anemia Control Act of 1972 was passed. With our early member organizations in tow, Dr. Whitten and the association began to advocate for this landmark piece of legislation. Our #SCDHistoryHighlight this week looks at why this act was so important for moving sickle cell treatment and research forward.
During the 1960s, the civil rights movement brought many issues of racial inequality, including health care disparities, to the foreground. As greater attention was paid to these differences in treatment, access and research, awareness of sickle cell disease increased. More people began to recognize the urgent need for better care and advocate for those improvements.
The National Sickle Cell Anemia Control Act of 1972 was introduced in the senate at the end of 1971 and passed into law the next year. It authorized the establishment of the first federal programs promoting sickle cell education, counseling, research, treatments and voluntary screening. The National Sickle Cell Disease Program of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health was implemented, and federally funded Comprehensive Sickle Cell Centers were established.
Without this crucial piece of legislation, and the tireless advocacy that helped to pass it, sickle cell disease treatment and research would not be where it is today. The National Sickle Cell Anemia Control Act of 1972 created the necessary foundation to which we owe a great deal of progress. Its passage is a testament to the power of community action and advocacy as we continue to make #SickleCellHistory!
