George Attipoe, the manager of Ghana Best Actress 2010 Juliet Ibrahim will start a sickle cell foundation to raise funds for sickle cells kids with emergency cases with bone, ulcer and anemia.
George Attipoe, has lost two friends and one sibling from sickle cell disease, born with sickle cell disease George Attipoe has always been in fear of losing his life. His mother and brother are both sickle cell patients. For the past 28 years, he has been through series of blood transfusion, avascular nicrosis, total hip replacement, three reconstructive plastic surgeries. George Attipoe already takes care of two sickle cell patients at the Korle Bu Hospital.
George Attipoe will launch his foundation called George’s sickle cell foundation which he would fund by himself. He will partner with the Korle Bu Sickle Cell Department, the orthopedics and the reconstructive plastic surgery and medical Doctors from America to educate the general public on sickle cell disease.
As a sickle cell patient himself, he will make a documentary on sickle cell patients’ parents who have lost their kids at tender stage and what really caused it, either by finances or lack of good care takers of sickle cell patients. The documentary will be hosted on the foundation’s website and shown in cinemas across the country. Health educators will use it as health tool to educate people. The documentary will start shooting in December.
He has managed Juliet Ibrahim since 2004; many movie stars will join in the campaign to raise awareness about sickle cell disease. He has acted in movies like Coming to Ghana and 4 Play; he acted as a gay in the movie. George Attipoe, is now in America studying E entrepreneurship at the Middle Tennessee State University.
In Ghana, 15,000 babies are born with sickle cell disease every year. In all of Africa, more than 400,000 babies are born with the disease each year. Sickle cell disease is an inherited disease. One person cannot get it from another one. It is usually passed on to children by parents who are AS or AC, healthy carriers of genes that when inherited together cause sickle cell disease passed on to children.
Sickle cell disease is inherited from both parents, not just from the mother. Most people with AS or AC blood are not aware of it and do not know that they can have children with sickle cell disease. Sickle cell disease is a disease of red blood cells. The disease has many features and complications which include anemia, poor growth, easy tiredness, and jaundice (yellow eyes).
