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Home arrow Health/Science arrow Health arrow Healing with faith and blood
Healing with faith and blood Print E-mail
By Elia Powers, special to the Beacon   

Posted 3 p.m. Tue., Jan. 13 - Congregants at black churches here are doing more than sending up a prayer. They are giving their blood.

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Rev. Jefferey Gilyard, Pastor of Christ Fellowship Baptist Church in Cahokia, IL, donates blood during a Sickle Cell Sabbath blood drive in the metro-east.

The church-based Sickle Cell Sabbath Program aims to increase awareness of the disease and promote the importance of blood and cord-blood donations. And it's working. A study published in the advance online edition of the journal Transfusion states that the program has led to a 60 percent increase in first-time blood donations.

Of the nearly 700 people who took part in the church drives from 2003 to 2006, 422 (or 60%) were first-time donors. During the same span, only 12 percent of all blood donors in metropolitan St. Louis were first-timers, the study shows.

"We're absolutely pleased with the results," said Michael R. DeBaun, a sickle cell specialist at St. Louis Children's Hospital and a professor of pediatrics at the Washington University School of Medicine who conceived the program. "It demonstrates that if an effort is focused on education and showing how individuals can save a life through donating blood, the community will respond."

DeBaun is known for his sickle cell treatment program and continues to study the effectiveness of blood-transfusion therapy, an established treatment for preventing initial or recurring strokes among children with the disease.

The Sickle Cell Sabbath Program is so named because blood drives take place on Sundays from February through June. Thirteen St. Louis metropolitan area churches, each of which has 90 percent or more black membership, have held at least two drives since 2003, the year the program was formalized. By asking churches to sponsor such events, the idea is to make donating more convenient for those affiliated with congregations.

It's estimated that more than 70,000 people have sickle cell disease, which primarily affects blacks and is the most common inherited blood disorder in the United States. It can lead to organ damage and strokes.

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Michael T. Johnson serves as chaplain with the Sickle Cell Team at St. Louis Children's Hospital and a Sickle Cell Sabbath community educator.

The program's chaplain, Michael T. Johnson, is a sickle cell survivor. He works with church clergy to make sure the blood drives happen as planned, and is also a liaison between the American Red Cross, which receives the blood, and the St. Louis Children's Hospital, which helps run the project.

Children benefit the most

"I'm very excited about seeing the rewards," said Johnson, a co-author of the study and an associate minister with Greater St. Mark Family Church. "I never thought I'd live to see the day when life expectancy is what it is, and kids can grow up realizing that with a little help and blood donations I can proceed with a normal life."

Life expectancy for those with sickle cell disease is now well into the 40s, a marked increase from decades ago. There's no universal cure.

Most of the people who take part in the blood drives are congregants or otherwise affiliated with a church. Johnson said he found that many church members didn't understand the connection between blood donation and helping children with sickle cell disease. According to the Red Cross, although blacks make up 13 percent of the population, they make up only 6.5 percent of the total blood-donor pool. Black blood donors are more likely to have compatible minor red blood cell antigens for children with the disease who routinely receive transfusions. Thus, the drives help increase the percentage of donors having compatible blood.

Children are often the recipients of blood transfusions, which is why the program focuses on helping young patients who are susceptible to strokes, DeBaun said. In addition to the typical blood drives, the program also seeks to store the usually discarded blood from mothers' umbilical cords that can be helpful in treating children with the disease.

Rev. Robert C. Scott, pastor at Central Baptist Church, agreed with Johnson that while sickle cell affects the black population more than any other group, some congregants had been unaware of the importance of blood donations. Members of Lane Tabernacle Church, where blood drives have attracted as many as 50 donors, have been interested to learn more about the disease and how the transfusions work, said its pastor, Rev. James T. Morris.

Men need to be persuaded

Still, Johnson said some church members - and particularly men - remain hesitant to donate because they don't like the idea of having blood drawn. The first-time donors were largely middle-aged black women, although donors ranged in age from 17 to 83, the study showed.

Johnson has preached the importance of the Sabbath program to pastors and congregants alike. He often shares his experience with the disease - how he was diagnosed at the age of two and graduated college even though people didn't think he'd be healthy enough to stay in school.

"People generally know someone who has needed a blood transfusion," Johnson said. "Because I have sickle cell, I'm a living example that you can live a normal life."

Johnson said once-distraught parents of children with sickle cell have become the program's biggest supporters. Some accompany him and Red Cross officials to churches to lead educational sessions that typically occur during a Sunday church service weeks before a scheduled blood drive. Staff from St. Louis Children's Hospital also run the introductory sessions.

Rev. Tommie Pierson, pastor of Greater St. Mark Family Church, said his congregation is set to hold at least two drives in 2009, equal to its 2008 total. He said selling the idea of donating blood hasn't been difficult, particularly because of Johnson's affiliation with the church.

"People have been jumping at the opportunity to help," Pierson said. "Our religion is a blood religion, so it's pretty easy to explain the importance of this program."

Johnson said he expects there to be at least one drive per weekend among the participating churches during the first few months of 2009, and several per weekend as spring approaches. While the Sabbath program runs from February through June, Johnson said churches sponsor their own blood drives throughout the year. Cote Brilliante Presbyterian Church holds events in which hunger drives run simultaneously with blood drives, said Rev. William G. Gillespie.

Then there's an annual drive in St. Louis and East St. Louis at the end of Sabbath season that commemorates the death of Charles Drew, an important black blood specialist.

Along with the St. Louis Children's Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine (the university's physicians also staff the hospital,) the City of St. Louis Department of Health, the Charles Drew Blood Campaign of the American Red Cross, Saint Louis University and SSM Cardinal Glennon Children's Medical Center are also partners in the project.

Elia Powers is a freelance writer in St. Louis. To reach him, contact Beacon health editor Sally J. Altman.

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