File #: 24-5175    Version: 1 Name: RECOGNIZING BLOOD CANCER AND SICKLE CELL AWARENESS MONTH IN COOK COUNTY
Type: Consent Calendar Resolution Status: Approved
File created: 9/10/2024 In control: Board of Commissioners
On agenda: 9/19/2024 Final action: 9/19/2024
Title: PROPOSED RESOLUTION RECOGNIZING BLOOD CANCER AND SICKLE CELL AWARENESS MONTH IN COOK COUNTY WHEREAS, the month of September is National Blood Cancer and 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 disproportiona...
Sponsors: DONNA MILLER, FRANK J. AGUILAR, ALMA E. ANAYA, SCOTT R. BRITTON, JOHN P. DALEY, BRIDGET DEGNEN, BRIDGET GAINER, MONICA GORDON, BILL LOWRY, STANLEY MOORE, KEVIN B. MORRISON, ANTHONY J. QUEZADA, MICHAEL SCOTT JR., TARA S. STAMPS, MAGGIE TREVOR
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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 and 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 more than 90% non-Hispanic Black or African American, and an estimated 3%-9% are Hispanic or Latino. 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 clo...

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