Partnership with the Sick Kids Foundation

BOF and SickKids Hospital continue to work together to help change the health outcomes for children living with Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) across Canada. SCD is the most common genetic condition affecting people of Black African Caribbean descent. It is a debilitating condition that causes significant pain and can place considerable financial burden on families. Black Opportunity Fund has funded two important initiatives in partnership with SickKids Hospital, to improve outcomes for children being treated for the Sickle Cell Disease:

• Capsule Shredder – BOF funded the development and free distribution of a SickKids developed device called the Capsule shredder, which makes it easier and safer for caregivers and families to administer sickle cell disease medication to children in their homes. Through funding from BOF the Capsule Shredders are being delivered FREE of charge to ALL Children across Canada being treated for Sickle Cell Disease, through Canada’s 13 children’s hospitals over 5 years.

 

• BOF Sickle Cell Disease Patient Amenities Fund, supports patients and families at the SickKids Sickle Cell Disease Clinic, which manages approximately 500 children with sickle cell syndromes. The endowed fund supports children and their families with expenses such as transportation, accommodations, and medication not covered by the government.

Thanks to the Black Opportunity Fund Sickle Cell Endowment Fund and the SickKids Hospital Centre for Global Child Health (C-GCH) has begun distributing capsule shredders free to children in Ghana, where about one in every 50 children is born with SCD, and more than half die before the age of five.