Such has been the horrendous impact of the novel coronavirus that other health issues often end up on the back burner.

Yesterday’s Sunday Observer reminds us of the terrible ravages of sickle cell disease — a major affliction in this country.

In the instant case, nine-year-old Miss Hannahlisa Hall has been diagnosed with haemoglobin (Hb) SS sickle cell disease which occurs when someone inherits the haemoglobin S gene from both parents.

It’s a reminder — perhaps not brought to public attention often enough — that people should be proactive in seeking to check elements of their own genetic make-up and that of their partners to be aware of the possibilities that may present.

That aside, we are told that Hannahlisa’s problems started in 2018 when, as a result of her condition, she suffered a double stroke. One more stroke hit in 2019 and last month she suffered yet another.

The child’s mother, Ms Claudette Grant, tells us that “A God alone know how it painful at times. Sometimes mi waan cry, but sometimes it feel like mi cyaan cry…”

Her pain apart, Ms Grant is burdened by bills she can’t manage. Says she: “The medication cost like $6,000 for the month. Taxi charge me like $2,000 to get to the Sickle Cell Unit every month. The doctor has recommended her to do a magnetic resonance imaging [MRI] because they want to do a test on her chest. When I check it out, they say it’s $68,000. Mi nuh have dem money deh…”

No doubt good ‘Good Samaritans’ will be helping out in this case following yesterday’s article. But countless poor, and not so poor Jamaicans, are faced with life-threatening health issues such as little Hannahlisa’s without knowing where money is to come from.

We think of patients with kidney disease, for example, who are unable to access public sector health care because dialysis units have run out of space and who will die simply because they cannot afford the high cost of private treatment.

Successive Jamaican governments, chronically cash-strapped, have never been able to adequately meet such needs, despite the contributions of the Culture, Health, Arts, Sports, and Education (CHASE) Fund.

Charity groups, including private voluntary organisations and church bodies, give a helping hand along with donors in the diaspora and locally.

Crucially, corporate Jamaica, through various foundations, has been a cornerstone in providing funding for the ailing health sector.

But it seems to us that much more could be achieved in terms of helping the very poor with their health care needs if private bodies were to join hands in a more unified approach using a dedicated fund of some sort.

Obviously, such an approach would have to be thought out carefully and executed efficiently with appropriate criteria for disbursement of benefits.

Also, it may not be possible any time soon because of the heavy losses being incurred across the board due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

But we believe, going forward, post-COVID-19, this is a suggestion worth considering. The Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica would be well placed to lead the way in our view.