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SENATE MEMORIAL 43

LEGISLATURE

- STATE OF NEW MEXICO -

FIRST SESSION

, 2007

INTRODUCED BY

James G. Taylor

A MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THAT THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH REPORT ON THE COSTS IN

NEW MEXICO OF SICKLE CELL DISEASE, WHICH DISPROPORTIONATELY

AFFECTS AFRICAN AMERICAN AND HISPANIC NEW MEXICANS.

WHEREAS, sickle cell disease is the most common inherited

blood disorder in the country; and

WHEREAS, sickle cell disease creates a chronic, painful

condition that affects people throughout their lives; and

WHEREAS, in the United States, most patients with sickle

cell disease are of African, Hispanic or Mediterranean descent;

and

WHEREAS, people of all ethnic backgrounds can have sickle

cell disease; and

WHEREAS, about one in three hundred seventy-five African

American babies and one in one thousand to one thousand four

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hundred Hispanic babies are diagnosed with sickle cell disease

each year in the United States; and

WHEREAS, the average lifespan of a person with sickle cell

disease is only forty-five years; and

WHEREAS, approximately one in every four thousand

Americans is born with a form of sickle cell disease; and

WHEREAS, two and one-half million Americans have the

sickle cell trait; and

WHEREAS, sickle cell disease affects the lives of

thousands who are hampered by physical and mental limitations

and debilitating pain; and

WHEREAS, while research and treatment are progressing,

patients with sickle cell disease suffer from dangerous blood

clots and are prone to strokes;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE

OF NEW MEXICO that the department of health be requested to

study the affects and incidence of sickle cell disease in New

Mexico; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the department of health be

requested to report to the interim legislative health and human

services committee on its findings by the committee's November

2007 meeting; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be

transmitted to the secretary of health, the chair and vice-

chair of the health and human services committee and to the

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governor.

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