§ 1-5-116 - Hemophilia Awareness Day. - Arkansas Statutes

1-5-116. Hemophilia Awareness Day.

(a) The General Assembly finds that:

(1) Hemophilia is the name of several hereditary genetic illnesses that impair the body's ability to control bleeding;

(2) Hemophilia is characterized by excessive, uncontrollable bleeding caused by missing or low-level clotting factor in the blood;

(3) Hemophiliac bleeding may occur even when a sufferer has sustained no injury;

(4) Hemophiliac bleeding most often occurs in the joints and in the head;

(5) Approximately twenty thousand (20,000) citizens nationwide are suffering from hemophilia, and one (1) in each five thousand (5,000) live male births in the United States results in hemophilia;

(6) Hemophilia affects males almost exclusively, affecting one in five thousand (1 in 5,000) males;

(7) Hemophilia occurs in all demographic groups;

(8) There is no cure for hemophilia; and

(9) Hemophilia is a lifelong condition that can be controlled with regular injections of the deficient clotting factor.

(b) The first Monday in May of each year shall be known in Arkansas as "Hemophilia Awareness Day".

(c) Hemophilia Awareness Day shall not be a legal holiday but shall be a memorial day to be commemorated by the issuance of an appropriate proclamation by the Governor.