Honey here is an ignorant tosser
When I was pregnant for the first time in 2020, I remember saying to my husband: “This country does not give a toss about the health of black people.” Why? As a pregnant woman and a sickle cell carrier, I was shocked to learn how little information is shared about this disease. Logging into pregnancy apps or reading NHS leaflets, you find an endless list of illnesses and conditions – genetic and non-genetic – that may affect your baby. Yet sickle cell was barely mentioned, despite it being the fastest-growing genetic disease in the UK.
Sickle cell affects those of West African heritage. Until recently this wasn’t, in fact, an issue among the British population. Of course, given recent immigration, it is becoming more of one.
The NHS is not known as being a hugely responsive organisation. And there we are, that’s all we need to know.