Guests at this year’s annual Tropical Showcase will get more than just the cultural entertainment found at many Black History Month events – they’ll also get educated about many health issues largely affecting the African and Caribbean community.
“If we don’t speak up, no one will speak for us,” says Unita Louis, founder and president of the Sickle Cell Disease Parents’ Support Group.
Her association partnered with Black History Ottawa and Canadian Blood Services to host the showcase to be held on Feb. 21 at the Ottawa Public Library main branch.
Guests can expect artistic performances at the free event, but she says a healthy dose of medical information will also be presented. Attendees will also get a chance to check their blood type and register for the OneMatch Stem Cell and Marrow Network through Canadian Blood Services.
Godwin Ifedi, president of Black History Ottawa, says working with SCDPSG on the showcase provides “greater reach” for educating African and Caribbean people about issues like sickle cell disease, HIV/AIDS, diabetes and prostate and breast cancer.
More black youth should come to the showcase to learn about maintaining good health and avoiding risks associated with illnesses like sickle cell, Louis adds.
She says Black History Month is an ideal time to educate Ottawa’s black community on these illnesses because it’s easier to call their attention to specific health issues they face when there’s a larger focus on their culture and history.
She says there’s a tendency within the black community to ignore or hide health issues, resulting in many being unaware of health conditions they have, or they don’t know how to help others who are struggling with these illnesses.
One of the most serious problems, Louis says, is a critically low number of African and Caribbean people donating blood or registering as matches for stem cells and bone marrow.
Blood donation is a “sensitive issue” among African and Caribbean people due to religious and cultural beliefs, but people need to realize that one unit of blood can save four lives, she says.
Sufferers of sickle cell, a blood disorder predominately affecting black people, may need blood transfusions every six to eight weeks, like her son Brent once did, she says. This could require eight to 12 units of blood, she adds.
Louis says those who need blood so frequently should receive donations from someone within their racial group because it’s more likely they’ll get the right match. Otherwise, as Brent did a few years ago, patients can develop a resistance to blood transfusion, she says.
Worse, she adds there’s never enough blood for children with the disease.
Angela Christopher, one of the event’s guest speakers, is in remission from leukemia and hasn’t yet found a bone marrow match.
She isn’t trying to further her donor search, but advocates for others like her because there’s a better chance of being matched to someone within one’s racial group, she says.
Less than 0.5 per cent of registered donors are black, but “if they were aware (of the issues), maybe they would act,” Christopher says.
As such, Canadian Blood Services will check blood types for interested guests 17 and older to inform them if they’re eligible for donating, and register them for OneMatch.
Pierre Campeau, Ottawa’s Canadian Blood Services media relations officer, says those who register for OneMatch become part of an international database that provides stem cells and bone marrow to people worldwide, and they’re always looking for new donors.
“You save a life when you register for OneMatch,” he says.
Jennifer Philippe, director of OneMatch, says it’s been difficult to gain the black community’s attention. Because it’s easier for patients to find matches within their racial group, she says it’s “important our network reflects the diversity of the Canadian mosaic.”
Louis says many of these problems could be solved if black community members were more proactive about these issues.
“We need to take care of ourselves and our health,” she says.