Health Observance Corner

January

National Birth Defects Prevention Month
March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation
www.marchofdimes.com
The parents of one out of every 28 babies receive the news that their baby has a birth defect.

National Volunteer Blood Donor Month
American Association of Blood Banks
www.aabb.org
An average of 38,000 units of red blood cells are needed per day in the United States.

Thyroid Awareness Month
American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists
www.aace.com
An estimated 27 million Americans are affected by thyroid disease, more than the number of Americans diagnosed with diabetes and cancer combined.

February

National Children’s Dental Health Month
American Dental Association
www.ada.org
Only 28.1% of children enrolled in Medicaid received any dental services in 2001.

February 4th
National Wear Red Day 2005
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Health Information Center
www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/hearttruth
One in three American women die of heart disease.

February 14th
National Condom Day
American Social Health Association
www.ashastd.org
Over 65 million people living in the US have an incurable STD.

March

National Eye Donor Month
Eye Bank Association of America
www.restoresight.org
Over 90% of all corneal transplant operations successfully restore the recipient’s vision.

National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month
Cancer Research and Prevention Foundation
www.preventcancer.org/colorectal
Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer in incidence and death in both men and women and is the number two cancer-killer among men and women combined.

National Multiple Sclerosis Education and Awareness Month
Multiple Sclerosis Foundation
www.msfocus.org/programs_events/prog_edumth.html
An estimated 400,000 U.S. citizens are diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

Visit http://www.healthfinder.gov/library/nho/ for a more complete list of health observances.