BILL NUMBER: ACR 122	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 21, 2014

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Beth Gaines

                        MARCH 17, 2014

   Relative to Bone Marrow Donation Awareness Month.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   ACR 122, as amended, 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)  , now publicly known as Be The
Match,  has facilitated more than  40,000  
61,000  marrow and  umbilical  cord blood transplants;
and
   WHEREAS,  The NMDP   Be The Match 
states that the number of transplants facilitated through the
national  registry   Be The Match 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;   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
  need for  racially and ethnically diverse donors
 because of complex tissue types  . Of the more than
 eight   11  million potential donors on
the  registry, only 26   United States' Be The
Match Registry, 41  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,
  Be The Match operates  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.