After more than a decade of work, an advocate for a statewide sickle cell detection education bill is delighted that Gov. Hochul signed it into law on Dec. 8.Merlene Smith-Sotillo, co-founder of the Sickle Cell Awareness Foundation, located at 108-03 164 Place in South Jamaica, told the Chronicle that she has fought for the bill since October 2011.Smith-Sotillo’s son, Syd Sotillo, the co-founder of SCAF, died from the hemolytic version of the disease, which causes organ failure, at age 30 in April 2012. Her daughter, Cathyann Sotillo, is also afflicted by the disease and takes the drug...…After more than a decade of work, an advocate for a statewide sickle cell detection education bill is delighted that Gov. Hochul signed it into law on Dec. 8.Merlene Smith-Sotillo, co-founder of the Sickle Cell Awareness Foundation, located at 108-03 164 Place in South Jamaica, told the Chronicle that she has fought for the bill since October 2011.Smith-Sotillo’s son, Syd Sotillo, the co-founder of SCAF, died from the hemolytic version of the disease, which causes organ failure, at age 30 in April 2012. Her daughter, Cathyann Sotillo, is also afflicted by the disease and takes the drug...WW…

The City Council’s vote on an educational sickle cell disease bill last week was a long time coming for one of the legislation’s advocates, who has a daughter afflicted by the disease and lost a son to it.“It’s been crazy, it’s exciting,” Merlene Smith-Sotillo, co-founder of the Sickle Cell Awareness Foundation, told the Chronicle. “It encompasses all people who have sickle cell in New York.”Intro. 0968B, which the Council unanimously approved on Nov. 2, will amend a city code to improve health outcomes for individuals affected by the disease. It will accomplish that by requiring...…The City Council’s vote on an educational sickle cell disease bill last week was a long time coming for one of the legislation’s advocates, who has a daughter afflicted by the disease and lost a son to it.“It’s been crazy, it’s exciting,” Merlene Smith-Sotillo, co-founder of the Sickle Cell Awareness Foundation, told the Chronicle. “It encompasses all people who have sickle cell in New York.”Intro. 0968B, which the Council unanimously approved on Nov. 2, will amend a city code to improve health outcomes for individuals affected by the disease. It will accomplish that by requiring...WW…