World Hemophilia Day is celebrated on April 17th. Hemophilia is a bleeding disorder that reduces the clotting factor in a person’s blood, so when the person bleeds, it is very hard to staunch the flow. This disorder is extremely rare, as only one in 10,000 people are born with it, and, because the numbers are so low, hemophilia can appear like a lonesome and isolated fight. For a while, it was believed only men could develop this disorder, but as it turns out women can experience symptoms as well; though many still live under the belief that they cannot have hemophilia, despite showing symptoms. The World Federation of Hemophilia (WFH) wants to help overthrow these preconceived beliefs and ideas about hemophilia, which is why they chose “Reaching Out” as their theme this year.
Reaching Out: The First Step to Care
In order to reach its goal for recreating the notions of hemophilia, WFH has several objectives:
- Share diagnosis stories
- Share efforts to increase outreach and identification across the world
- Celebrate local victories to access treatment
These three goals each hold an important aspect of reaching a new idea of hemophilia. By sharing diagnosis stories, people can find comfort and hope because they’ll know this fight isn’t theirs alone. The stories will also serve as a basis for other people to identify if they have hemophilia as well, which leads into the second objective: outreach and identification. WFH has easily accessible information about hemophilia on their website that you can visit here. The third objective can apply to everyone, no matter the amount of clotting factor in their blood. To celebrate, spread the word about World Hemophilia Day; you can post about it using these hashtags, #WorldHemophiliaDay, #WHD2019, #hemophilia, #bleedingdisorders, #TreatmentforAll, #ShowYourRed, #LifeinRed, #LightItUpRed, and #KnowYourRed. You can also contact the people in your life who are diagnosed with hemophilia to celebrate and share their story. WFH also has a great platform to write your diagnosis experience, which you can explore here.
By achieving these goals, people can receive the treatment and support they need. Please remember to spread awareness and reach out to those around you who have hemophilia. This way, we can ensure all those with a bleeding disorder are taken care of.
Sources:
World Federation of Hemophilia. (2019). About Bleeding Disorders. Retrieved from https://www.wfh.org/en/page.aspx?pid=1282.
Hemophilia World. (2018). World Hemophilia Day social media toolkit now available. Retrieved from https://news.wfh.org/world-hemophilia-day-social-media-toolkit/#1551306509652-b72f4559-4537.