house resolution no.280

Reps. Peterson, Brenda Carter, Bolden, Cynthia Johnson, Yancey, Garrett, Rabhi, Love, Cherry, Crawford, Garza, Gay-Dagnogo, Greig, Haadsma, Hoadley, Hope, Kuppa, Liberati, Pagan, Sneller, Sowerby, Stone and Witwer offered the following resolution:

A resolution to declare June 19, 2020, as World Sickle Cell Awareness Day in the state of Michigan.

Whereas, June 19th has been officially designated as World Sickle Cell Awareness Day by the Sickle Cell Disease Association of America; and

Whereas, The international awareness day is observed annually with the goal to increase public knowledge and an understanding of sickle cell disease and the challenges experienced by patients and their families and caregivers; and

Whereas, Sickle cell disease (SCD) is one of the most common inherited blood disorders affecting approximately 100,000 children and adults in the nation. One in 365 African Americans and 1 in 16,300 Hispanics have sickle cell disease; and

Whereas, There are more than 2,800 patients with sickle cell disease in Michigan; and

Whereas, Sickle cell disease is a complex genetic disease involving multicellular adhesion between red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets, and endothelial cells, resulting in vaso-occlusive crises (VOCs); and

Whereas, VOCs are the hallmark of sickle cell disease. These recurrent episodes induce severe pain, decrease quality of life, can cause life-threatening complications, including stroke, and are the primary cause of hospitalizations in sickle cell disease, and are associated with increased mortality; and

Whereas, VOC is the number one reason that patients with SCD visit the emergency room or are hospitalized; and

Whereas, The estimated annual medical costs for SCD exceed $1.1 billion in the United States. Eighty percent of overall treatment costs are attributable to inpatient costs and $356 million in estimated annual costs for emergency room visits; and

Whereas, High Medicaid costs stem from “super utilizers”, patients with more than four hospital visits per year. SCD was the fifth most common diagnosis among Medicaid “super utilizers”; and

Whereas, Access to care may be challenging for patients with sickle cell disease. Due to a lack of physicians experienced in treating sickle cell disease, many young adults transitioning from pediatric care seek treatment in emergency settings; and

Whereas, Sickle cell was medically recognized in 1910, but the first disease-modifying treatment was not approved for use until 1998 and only three additional treatments have been approved in the last four years, two of those in late 2019; and

Whereas, More needs to be done to improve the quality of care for patients with SCD; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the House of Representatives, That the members of this legislative body declare June 19, 2020, as World Sickle Cell Disease Awareness Day in the state of Michigan. We urge increased awareness to the problems caused by sickle cell disease.