[Filed with Secretary of State May 30, 2014.]
ACR 122, Beth Gaines. Bone Marrow Donation Awareness Month.
This measure would designate the month of May 2014 as Bone Marrow Donation Awareness Month.
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 61,000 marrow and umbilical cord blood transplants; and
WHEREAS, Be The Match states that the number of transplants facilitated through the national 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, a process that is often difficult, time-consuming, and costly; and
WHEREAS, The most prevalent problem with respect to bone marrow donation is the need for racially and ethnically diverse donors because of complex tissue types. Of the more than 11 million potential donors on the 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, 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.
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