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(a) The General Assembly finds that:
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(1) Hemophilia is the name of several hereditary genetic illnesses that impair the body’s ability to control bleeding;
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(2) Hemophilia is characterized by excessive, uncontrollable bleeding caused by missing or low-level clotting factor in the blood;
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(3) Hemophiliac bleeding may occur even when a sufferer has sustained no injury;
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(4) Hemophiliac bleeding most often occurs in the joints and in the head;
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(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;
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(6) Hemophilia affects males almost exclusively, affecting one in five thousand (1 in 5,000) males;
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(7) Hemophilia occurs in all demographic groups;
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(8) There is no cure for hemophilia; and
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(9) Hemophilia is a lifelong condition that can be controlled with regular injections of the deficient clotting factor.
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(b) The first Monday in May of each year shall be known in Arkansas as “Hemophilia Awareness Day”.
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(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.
