Support Bleeding Disorder Awareness

On March 15, Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY) introduced H.R. 4846, the Bleeding Disorder Screening, Awareness, and Further Education (SAFE) Act of 2010. This legislation will improve the quality of life for Americans with bleeding disorders by promoting screening of adolescents and young adults, raising awareness among health professionals, and by augmenting and expanding research. The National Hemophilia Foundation endorses this bill. We encourage you to write your representative today and ask him or her to co-sponsor the bill.

Specifically, the bill would create grant programs to:

develop and disseminate an evidence-based screening questionnaire for use in the diagnosis of bleeding disorders in young adults;
promote an educational campaign to encourage screening of high school and college students, and subsequent referral to lab testing and "medical management" if appropriate
provide educational campaigns for adolescent healthcare providers, such as physicians, school nurses, PE teachers and college health services; and
conduct research and surveillance activities to establish prevalence of bleeding disorders among young women, and to identify female-specific surveillance systems to improve quality of life among women with bleeding disorders.

Several House members have already co-sponsored the bill, including: Reps. Baldwin (D-WI), Bishop (D-GA), Bordallo (D-Guam), Cummings (D-MD); Kilpatrick (D-MI), LoBiondo (R-NJ), Massa (D-NY), Richardson (D-CA) and Sestak (D-PA). If your representative is already a co-sponsor, please thank him or her for his or her support!

We need your help to build more support for this bill in the House of Representatives. Please personalize the letter below to urge your member of Congress to co-sponsor H.R. 4846 today!

Talking Points

Subject:

Dear [ Decision Maker ],

(Edit Letter Below)

As a constituent affected by a bleeding disorder, I am writing to urge you to co-sponsor H.R. 4846, the Bleeding Disorder Screening, Awareness, and Further Education (SAFE) Act of 2010.  Introduced by Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY), this bill has the support of the National Hemophilia Foundation and of individuals with bleeding disorders and their families.

This important legislation will improve the well-being of millions of Americans suffering from bleeding disorders, such as hemophilia and von Willebrand disease.  Bleeding disorders are often undiagnosed, especially among women, which can lead to potentially severe complications and serious degradation of quality of life. This legislation will greatly benefit adolescents and young adults who may be unaware of their bleeding disorder, by creating and promoting educational campaigns geared toward them and their healthcare providers, and by conducting research and surveillance activities.

Early detection and increased understanding will help people affected by bleeding disorders live better, healthier lives.  This bill is a critical first step.  Please co-sponsor H.R. 4846 and support all those affected by bleeding disorders.

Thank you for your consideration,
[Your name]
[Your address]

Take Action on this Issue

Send this message to:

Your Congressperson

Complete the following to send this message. If you have participated before, just type in your email address and set your prefix, then submit the form.

Email:*

Prefix:*

First Name:*

Last Name:*

Title:

Organization:

Address Line 1:*

Address Line 2:

City:*

State:

ZIP/Postal Code:*

Country:*

Email Preference:

Send me Plain Text

Send me HTML**

Don't Know

Check this box if you would like to receive periodic updates or action alerts

NHF eNews Subscriptions:

Please indicate the type of news you'd like to receive.

E*notes

Yes, I would like to receive a copy of this letter

* Required Field

** Some older email programs may not display HTML correctly.