By Kenneth Kaushansky, MD
2008-11-01
Dr. Kaushansky is president of ASH.
In 2007, ASH conducted a national survey to determine the public's
level of awareness of blood disorders and hematology. Survey results
revealed that Americans have low awareness of hematology, blood
diseases, and health risks. When asked to name a common blood
condition, only a small minority were able to identify common
conditions like anemia, blood clotting, hemophilia, and deep-vein
thrombosis, and only one in five people could define hematology. These
results underscore the public's need for easy-to-understand resources
on blood disorders and guidance on the role of hematologists in the
health-care team.
To address this need and help people understand just how important blood is to their overall health, ASH has launched Blood: The Vital Connection,
a public education campaign that provides credible information on many
different blood diseases as well as risk factors, prevention
strategies, and treatment options. An exciting component of this
campaign is a documentary on hematology produced by award-winning
filmmaker Joseph Lovett and supported by ASH, NHLBI, NIDDK, NCI, and
NCRR. "Blood Detectives" shows the vital role hematologists play in
treating complex medical conditions and in conducting basic research
that leads to life-saving treatments. Mark your calendar to catch the
film's premiere on the Discovery Health cable network on December 19 at
7:00 p.m. ET/PT, and look for more details at this year's annual
meeting.
As we all know, millions of Americans are affected by blood
disorders each day, and more and more are using the Internet as their
primary source of information. We encourage you to refer your patients
to the Blood: The Vital Connection Web site at www.bloodthevitalconnection.org
for reliable information on anemia, bleeding and clotting disorders,
blood cancers, and women's blood-related health issues. The site also
provides information about participating in clinical trials and a "Find
a Hematologist" tool, which allows patients or their health care
providers to search for a hematologist by location or specialty.
The site also includes valuable career resources for medical
students, and, over the coming weeks, we plan to add blood disease
animations, short videos, and more details about the documentary.
We need your help getting the word out about the important resources at www.bloodthevitalconnection.org.
Please join us in raising awareness about blood diseases and the
important work hematologists do by sharing this site with your
patients, family, and friends.
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