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PROPOSED RESOLUTION
RECOGNIZING BLOOD CANCER AND SICKLE CELL AWARENESS MONTH IN COOK COUNTY
WHEREAS, the month of September is National Blood Cancer Awareness Month as well as Sickle Cell Awareness Month, a month-long initiative designated by Congress to help focus attention on the need for research and treatment of blood cancer and sickle cell diseases; and
WHEREAS, Sickle cell disease (SCD) is the most common inherited blood disorder in the United States in which red blood cells may become sickle-shaped and harden. For a baby to be born with sickle cell disease, both parents must carry a sickle cell trait or genes. Sickle cell disease is not contagious, and there is no universal cure; and
WHEREAS, about 1 in 13 African Americans carry the sickle cell trait, and many do not know they have it, and an estimated 100,000 people in the U.S. have SCD, with approximately 2,000 babies born with SCD annually in the United States; and
WHEREAS, people of many ethnic backgrounds can have SCD, but it disproportionately affects Black and Brown Americans, with an estimated 1 in 365 Black Americans and 1 in 16,300 Hispanic Americans suffering from SCD; and
WHEREAS, Sickle Cell disease leads to complications including chronic severe and unpredictable pain, anemia, frequent infections, swelling in extremities, fatigue, delayed growth and is one of the underlying medical conditions that causes increased risk for severe illness from the virus that causes COVID-19, defined as hospitalization, admission to the ICU, intubation or mechanical ventilation, or death; and
WHEREAS, this national focus is essential and reinforces the National Institutes of Health (NIH) continued support of SCD research, education, and capacity building, including the "Cure Sickle Cell Initiative" to accelerate safe, effective, and scalable gene therapies to cure the disease; and
WHEREAS, because of the many advances and medical breakthroughs in genetic therapies and research, we are now closer t...
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