01/09/2026
SEPTEMBER | SICKLE CELL AWARENESS MONTH
From Awareness to Action: It Is Time to Change the Story.
Today, the Zambia Sickle Cell Anemia Society (ZSCAS) joins the global sickle cell community in opening a month of awareness, advocacy, solidarity and action.
For too long, sickle cell disease has been spoken about primarily through the language of pain, crisis and survival.
We believe the story must be bigger.
Sickle cell disease is not a sentence to a life defined by suffering. People living with sickle cell deserve the opportunity to learn, work, build families, pursue their dreams and contribute meaningfully to society—with the right care, support and understanding.
Yet across Zambia and much of Africa, too many children and adults continue to face delayed diagnosis, inadequate access to comprehensive care, medicine and blood, financial barriers, stigma, misinformation and health systems that are not sufficiently equipped to meet their needs.
And this is why awareness alone is not enough.
This September, ZSCAS is calling for a deeper commitment:
Know sickle cell.
Know your status.
Challenge stigma.
Support families.
Donate blood.
Invest in care.
Listen to lived experience.
Strengthen our health systems.
And turn awareness into action.
We also call upon governments, healthcare professionals, researchers, development partners, private-sector leaders, communities and families to recognize people living with sickle cell disease not merely as beneficiaries of healthcare, but as partners in shaping the systems that serve them.
The global conversation is moving forward. WHO’s new guidance for children and adolescents with sickle cell disease reinforces the importance of evidence-based, equitable care and reminds us that effective interventions must actually reach the people who need them. (World Health Organization)
Zambia must be part of that progress.
This month, we remember every life affected by sickle cell disease.
We celebrate every warrior, caregiver, healthcare worker, researcher, advocate and ally who continues to show up.
And we renew our commitment to building a Zambia where sickle cell disease is diagnosed early, treated appropriately, understood without stigma and supported with compassion.
To every person living with sickle cell disease:
You are more than your diagnosis.
Your life has value.
Your voice matters.
Your dreams matter.
And your future matters.
To the world, ZSCAS says:
Let this not be another month of awareness that ends when September does.
Let September be the beginning of stronger systems, greater understanding, better access and measurable change.
This is our month to raise awareness.
Our responsibility to demand action.
And our opportunity to change the story.
ZSCAS - Standing with the Sickle Cell Community.
From Zambia to the world.
