With Breast Cancer Awareness Month coming up in less than a week, prepare to see the country “pink out” in support of those affected by the disease. You probably already know what I’m talking about: the bright pink shirts, flags, cups and shoes. Football teams across the U.S. hop on the trend as an opportunity to don colorful, flashy accessories on the field while simultaneously promoting an honorable cause.
We can all agree that this is generally a good thing, though some have an issue with the potential capitalization of sickness — a very valid criticism.
The main reasons why Breast Cancer Awareness Month has become so widespread are visibility and monetary investment, two things that play hand in hand. The more visible a group or topic is, the more investment it will receive from the public and private alike. The inverse is also true, usually.
So, when Estée Lauder, an industry leader in cosmetics marketed towards women, managed to distribute millions of pink ribbons in an effort to popularize breast cancer awareness month, the company found immense success in the campaign. Now, October is known for a few things in North America — Halloween, pumpkins, fall and breast cancer awareness.
There are many, many days and months designated for many different health issues by various institutions. In fact, all 365 days on the calendar are assigned a specific health awareness.
As you may have guessed, the chief reasons these respective months and days do not receive the same attention are virality and volume. It’s already nearly impossible to get everybody in the nation to care about something, and it’s even more difficult to get a nation to agree on something.
In this case, I can envision a world where constant illness awareness becomes categorized as another liberal talking point and treated as another hindrance to entertainment.
Seeing as Depression Awareness Month, which falls in September, rightfully receives plenty of coverage on our college campus, I would like to take this opportunity to point our attention toward another health awareness effort that affects tens of thousands of Americans: sickle cell anemia.
Growing up, I had a handful of friends and classmates affected by the disease, but it typically did not interfere with daily life. On the days when they couldn’t handle it, they experienced nausea, dizziness, fatigue and an overall visible grogginess, only to be sent to a school nurse who can only do so much. An hour or so with the nurse and a bottle of water later, they returned to the classroom and suffered in silence.
Sickle cell is a disease that affects the shape of red blood cells in the body, causing disc-shaped cells to deform into a variety of shapes, but primarily a hook shape — hence the name.
The disease has disproportionately affected the Black population for decades as it is an inherited ailment present at birth. Surely, there is a conversation to be had regarding the dismissal of Black health issues. Even here in our own state, we see Black people get forgotten by the healthcare system as hospital after hospital closes. This especially affects predominantly Black counties where these closures have happened the most.
Sickle Cell Awareness Month has come and gone so casually for the previously mentioned reasons — virality and volume. Sickle cell is estimated to have about 100,000 patients nationwide. In comparison, there are ~200,000 breast cancer diagnoses yearly. Still, take this chance to offer support to someone you may know with sickle cell and further the research on the disease.
You probably ask yourself, “Why wait until the last week of September to say something? That’s counterintuitive, if anything.” I primarily waited to run this article because much of the help these people need is ongoing, and efforts shouldn’t be promoted for a mere 30 days. If you want to make a genuine impact, contribute continually.
One of the easiest, most common ways you can help is by donating blood if you are able to. Blood transfusions are the number one procedure sickle cell patients undergo on a year-to-year basis. If you are on the fence about a blood donation, are afraid of needles or have another reservation regarding the service, take a moment to consider the lives you could be impacting or changing by helping.
Not everybody can have the Cowboys on national television playing in their honor. Instead, a newspaper editor can push the conversation out to more people and perhaps have a domino effect for the cause.
Justice Rose is the opinion editor. He is a junior journalism major from Madison, Miss.
