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State Representative Eugene Miller (D-Cleveland) introduced two bills today designed to support educational, clinical, and social services for adults living with sickle cell anemia and sickle cell disease. One bill creates a Sickle Cell Anemia Advisory Committee to promote education about the disease and better treatment options for adult patients. The second creates a Sickle Cell Anemia Awareness license plate.
Sickle cell anemia is a serious inherited condition in which red blood cells can become sickle-shaped, similar to the letter “C”. According to the American Heart Association, people afflicted with the disease have a higher risk of stroke, and attacks can prompt long hospital stays for treatment.
“We have treatments, but no real cure, for people struggling with the symptoms and complications of sickle cell anemia,” Rep. Miller said. “We need to make sure our citizens know the warning signs so we don’t waste time diagnosing and treating the condition, and we need to develop new ways to combat attacks that could threaten our residents’ lives.”
Federal statistics show the disease affects about 70,000 Americans, but about two million Americans carry the sickle cell trait (they inherit the sickle cell gene from one parent, but not both). It affects mainly African-Americans; the condition occurs in about one in every 500 African-American births.
The committee formed under one of Rep. Miller’s bills would consist of five members appointed by the Director of the Ohio Department of Health. Members would include researchers, health care professionals and people personally affected by the disease.
Rep. Miller’s legislation is supported by the Ohio Sickle Cell Anemia Association and Kincaid’s Kindred Spirits, Inc.
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