BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                  AJR 18
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   September 6, 2011

                             ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON RULES
                                Nancy Skinner, Chair
                 AJR 18 (Carter) - As Introduced:  September 1, 2011
           
          SUBJECT  :   Sickle Cell Awareness Month.

           SUMMARY  :   Recognizes September 2011 as Sickle Cell Awareness 
          Month in California and would urge the President and the 
          Congress of the United States to restore funding for sickle cell 
          anemia centers and research and to make sickle cell anemia and 
          other genetic hemoglobinopathies a public health priority.  
          Specifically,  this resolution  makes the following legislative 
          findings:

          1)Sickle cell anemia and sickle cell disease refer to a group of 
            inherited disorders that affect the red blood cells by 
            effecting the shape of the cells; instead of the hemoglobin 
            being smooth and round and able to glide easily through the 
            blood vessels they are curved or "sickle" shaped and become 
            hard and sticky, blocking blood flow and preventing oxygen 
            from getting through the tissues causing severe pain and 
            damage to organs.

          2)It is estimated that over 70,000 Americans have sickle cell 
            anemia and about 2.5 million Americans have the sickle cell 
            trait, meaning they carry a copy of the gene for the disease.

          3)Sickle cell anemia occurs in 1 out of every 400 African 
            American births and 1 out of every 19,000 Hispanic American 
            births; and 1 out of 12 African Americans has the sickle cell 
            trait as opposed to 1 out of every 100 within the Latino 
            population who have the trait.

          4)The Sickle Cell Disease Association of America and its member 
            organizations began conducting month-long events in September 
            to call attention to sickle cell disease and the need to 
            address the problem at the national and local levels, and ask 
            the public to reflect on children and adults whose lives, 
            education, and careers have been affected by this disease.

          5)The effort to officially recognize Sickle Cell Awareness Month 
            at all levels succeeded in 1983 when the House of 
            Representatives unanimously passed the first resolution 








                                                                  AJR 18
                                                                  Page  2

            introduced by the Congressional Black Caucus, designating 
            September as National Sickle Cell Anemia Awareness Month in 
            1983; and the Legislature of California urges the President 
            and Congress to restore funding for sickle cell anemia centers 
            and research.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :   None.

           REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION  :   

          None on file.


           
          Analysis Prepared by  :    Nicole Willis / RLS. / (916) 319-2800