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.
P1 1WHEREAS, Since 1987, when Congress authorized the
2establishment of a national registry of volunteer bone marrow
3donors, the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP)begin insert, now
4publicly known as Be The Match,end insert has facilitated more thanbegin delete 40,000end delete
5begin insert 61,000end insert marrow andbegin insert umbilicalend insert cord blood transplants; and
6WHEREAS,begin delete The NMDPend deletebegin insert Be The Matchend insert states that the number
7of transplants facilitated through the nationalbegin delete registryend deletebegin insert Be The Match
8Registryend insert is “only a fraction of the people who can benefit”; and
9WHEREAS, One of the leading hurdles cited in a report by the
10Government Accountability Office is locating a suitably matched,
11unrelatedbegin delete donor;end deletebegin insert donor,end insert a process that is often difficult,
12time-consuming, and costly; and
13WHEREAS, Patients will deteriorate, develop major
14complications, or die while awaiting potential donors; and
P2 1WHEREAS, The most prevalent problem with respect to bone
2marrow donation is thebegin delete continued disparity in the number ofend deletebegin insert need
3forend insert racially and ethnically diverse donorsbegin insert because of complex tissue
4typesend insert. Of the more thanbegin delete eightend deletebegin insert 11end insert million potential donors on the
5begin delete registry, only 26end deletebegin insert
United States’ Be The Match Registry, 41end insert percent
6are donors from racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds; and
7WHEREAS, There is a need to enhance the understanding of
8the importance of bone marrow donation, and to encourage
9Californians to participate in bone marrow donation drives; and
10WHEREAS,begin delete The NMDP operates the Be The Match Registry,end delete
11begin insert Be The Match operatesend insert the world’s largest and most diverse
12registry of potential bone marrow donors; and
13WHEREAS, There is a need to support programs that reduce
14search time for patients and fully type donors whose tissue
15compatibility types are less common; and
16WHEREAS, The bone marrow registration process is simple.
17It only takes a few minutes and requires a cheek swab; now,
18therefore, be it
19Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate
20thereof concurring, That the Legislature designates May 2014 as
21Bone Marrow Donation Awareness Month; and be it further
22Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies
23of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.
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