October 7 - 11, 2019: Plasma Awareness Week

WHEREAS, October 7 – 11 marks Plasma Awareness Week with observances throughout the United States designed to raise awareness of the importance of plasma donation and its impact on patients with rare diseases, recognize the contributions of plasma donors to saving and improving lives, and increase understanding about life-saving plasma protein therapies and the conditions they treat; and,

 

WHEREAS, plasma is the largest component of blood, making up about 55 percent of its overall content containing water, salts, enzymes, antibodies and other proteins. Its primary purpose is to transport nutrients, hormones, and proteins to the parts of the body that need it; and,

 

WHEREAS, plasma protein therapies are used to treat many conditions including hemophilia and other bleeding disorders, primary immune deficiencies, alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, hereditary angioedema, chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy, and Rh negative pregnancies; and,

 

WHEREAS, these therapies substantially increase quality of life, extend life expectancy, and improve patient outcomes for an estimated 3,000 Michiganders;

 

WHEREAS, each year, approximately 15,000 pregnant women in Michigan receive a plasma protein therapy to protect mother and baby from complications due to incompatible blood types; and,

 

WHEREAS, there are 38 plasma donation centers in Michigan certified under the International Quality Plasma Program where healthy and committed donors provide plasma that is used to manufacture high-impact, life-saving therapies;

 

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Gretchen Whitmer, governor of Michigan, do hereby proclaim October 7-11, 2019, as Plasma Awareness Week in Michigan.