On Friday, March 24, 2023, the time has come: the opening of the second treatment room for sickle cell patients in the Sint Vincentius Hospital in Suriname. The aim is to be able to accommodate more patients at the same time.
In the past, sickle cell patients with a vaso occlusive crisis (pain attack) reported to the ED where there are long waiting times or the disease is not properly recognized. Now they can be helped immediately, so without waiting times, and in particular immediately receive adequate pain relief.
Because the care is centralized, the nurses of the department have a lot of experience in the treatment of this disease.
What exactly is this disease?
Sickle cell disease is caused by inheriting genetic material that lends itself to the production of sickle-shaped cells. Evolutionarily, the process of natural selection has selected sickle cell traits (‘sickle cell trait’) as genetic material resistant to malaria. It is a chronic and hereditary form of anemia. The disease is characterized by (frequent) intense pain attacks. Patients can suffer for a lifetime.
Patients with sickle cell disease have abnormally shaped red blood cells (c- or sickle-shaped) that carry less oxygen and break down faster than healthy red blood cells. Sickle cells clump more easily, causing patients to experience alternating oxygen deprivation and reperfusion. Often resulting in permanent and constructive damage to bloodstreams and organs.
As a vulnerable group, they run greater risks during pregnancy and surgery. On average, they live 40 to 60 years, so significantly shorter. Hence the need for this extra treatment room.
The space is sponsored by the network association Dat Ding van ons, which aims to bring together, connect and make Surinamese/Caribbean professionals and potentials visible. The project was done together with WAHP.