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DR. ASA’AH NKOHKWO, Chief Executive of the Sickle Cell Society
Dr asaahnkohkwo, (PhD Medicine 1993 Manchester), Chief Executive of the Sickle Cell Society, is a Fellow in Laboratory Medicine, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Health Promotion and an alumnus of the UK NHS Public Health Leadership Development. Known traditionally as Mbi Asaatong Fontem, he is the Europe Ambassador of HM Fontem Njifua of Bangwa, Cameroon.
The Sickle Cell Society: A North-South Social Entrepreneurial Opportunity for the African Community in the UK.
The Sickle Cell Society, founded in 1979, is the premier medical NGO of the Black and minority-ethnic community in the UK. The Society is a registered charitable company, facilitating a nationwide umbrella of over 30 patient support groups. Run from its HQ in NW London, it provides information, counselling, direct support services, assists in research and advocates locally and nationwide, in the interest of those affected by sickle cell disorder.
Sickle cell disease is the most common hereditary blood condition in man . There are an estimated 13,000 actual sufferers in the UK alone and an estimated 500,000 worldwide, largely of Black African descent. Little surprise, therefore, that the current drive for a WHO-UN Declaration on Sickle Cell is aptly championed by African governments, led by First Ladies Mme Antoinette Sassou Nguesso of Congo-Brazzaville and Mme Viviane Wade of Senegal. Readers interested in the medical aspects of the severely debilitating and life-threatening sickle-cell disease (drepanocytosis), should please consult www.sicklecellsociety.org ; UK Tel: 0800 001 5660 or 0208 961 7795.
To the present chief executive, the Sickle Cell Society is the medical world’s Social Justice opportunity to the Black community, to make a statement that they too can run an NGO to World Class standards. Hence, to many a keen observer of the Third Sector, the Society is already punching well above its weight, thanks in no small way to the contribution of the many African immigrants who make up the new leadership of the Society.
Of relevance to the present big debate (mobilising the African diaspora for Africa) is the crucial role that such Africans in the diaspora can contribute towards the development of sustainable solutions to Africa’s healthcare challenges. The conference will therefore be invited to consider a number of opportunities for very promising collaboration that is emerging between the Society staff and Africa, especially regarding transfer of public health know-how and productive international networking at the level of African governments, the Organisation Internationale de Lutte contre la Drepanocytose (OILD/SCDIO), the EU, AU, UNESCO and the UN.
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