BILL NUMBER: ACR 122	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Beth Gaines

                        MARCH 17, 2014

   Relative to Bone Marrow Donation Awareness Month.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   ACR 122, as introduced, Beth Gaines. Bone Marrow Donation
Awareness Month.
   This measure would designate the month of May 2014 as Bone Marrow
Donation Awareness Month.
   Fiscal committee: no.



   WHEREAS, Since 1987, when Congress authorized the establishment of
a national registry of volunteer bone marrow donors, the National
Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) has facilitated more than 40,000 marrow
and cord blood transplants; and
   WHEREAS, The NMDP states that the number of transplants
facilitated through the national registry is "only a fraction of the
people who can benefit"; and
   WHEREAS, One of the leading hurdles cited in a report by the
Government Accountability Office is locating a suitably matched,
unrelated donor; a process that is often difficult, time-consuming,
and costly; and
   WHEREAS, Patients will deteriorate, develop major complications,
or die while awaiting potential donors; and
   WHEREAS, The most prevalent problem with respect to bone marrow
donation is the continued disparity in the number of racially and
ethnically diverse donors. Of the more than eight million potential
donors on the registry, only 26 percent are donors from racially and
ethnically diverse backgrounds; and
   WHEREAS, There is a need to enhance the understanding of the
importance of bone marrow donation, and to encourage Californians to
participate in bone marrow donation drives; and
   WHEREAS, The NMDP operates the Be The Match Registry, the world's
largest and most diverse registry of potential bone marrow donors;
and
   WHEREAS, There is a need to support programs that reduce search
time for patients and fully type donors whose tissue compatibility
types are less common; and
   WHEREAS, The bone marrow registration process is simple. It only
takes a few minutes and requires a cheek swab; now, therefore, be it
   Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate
thereof concurring, That the Legislature designates May 2014 as Bone
Marrow Donation Awareness Month; and be it further
   Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of
this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.