PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — Papitto Opportunity Connection ( POC ) is hoping to help people struggling with a disease that it claims is “woefully understudied and underfunded.”
On Monday, POC awarded the Lifespan Comprehensive Sickle Cell Program with its first $1 million Innovation Grant.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , sickle cell disease is a kind of inherited blood disorder that can be life threatening. Nearly all patients suffering from the disease are Black or Latino.
Georgina Dauda is a sickle cell patient who said she has been in pain all 31 years of her life.
“I would cry, and I would become swollen all over, and I was just always in distress,” Dauda said.
Daud said getting proper care for her disease hasn’t been easy.
“Whether it’s because of my skin color or because of the disease that I have which requires high doses of pain medication,” Dauda explained. “I’ve been called certain names like ‘drug seeker’ or I’ve been told that I’m lying that I’m not in pain.”