RivkaRivka
Senior Member
- Messages
- 368
Hi friends: I hope you will help me get the word out on this grassroots campaign that aims to pressure the American Red Cross and U.S. government to finally start protecting the nation's blood supply so that no one else will get ME/CFS/XMRV from a blood transfustion. Please forward and post this below notice on your blog/website/facebook. Thanks! -- Best, Rivka
== Protecting the Nation's Blood Supply. Not! ==
Video of our "playful-street-action-with-a-message" found here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DSzTCYPAvs
Rationale: In Oct 2009, the journal Science published a ground-breaking paper establishing an association between a newly discovered retrovirus called XMRV and the disabling illness ME/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. It's one year later and the U.S. government still has not banned people with ME/CFS from donating blood, thereby putting at risk 5 million Amerians who get blood transfusions each year. In an effort to protect their own blood supply, Australia, Canada, England and other countries *have* banned people with ME/CFS from donating blood. In the absence of the U.S. government protecting its citizens, it is up to us to turn on the political pressure; we need to force their hand with pressure from the grassroots, from "the bottom up."
Action: Email/call/fax your state Red Cross offices with the below simple 3-sentence message. If enough of us contact the local offices, they will, in turn, tell their national headquarters and the pressure will come from inside the Red Cross itself, from the bottom up. Feel free to also contact the national President and CEO of the American Red Cross. Sample email and contact info found below.
Working for change together,
Rivka, November 30, 2010
Rivka (at) ThatTakesOvaries (dot) org
SAMPLE EMAIL
Dear Red Cross,
XMRV: A newly discovered retrovirus. What are you doing to protect the nation's blood supply?
This playful YouTube video explains the seriousness of the issue http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DSzTCYPAvs
[Your name here]
[Your geographic location here]
CONTACT INFO
1) Find your local and state Red Cross offices here:
www.RedCross.org/where
If you want to do more, contact:
2) Gail McGovern, President and CEO of the American Red Cross
Email: McgovernG@USA.redcross.org
Phone: 202-303-5303
Fax: 202-303-6602
3) Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius
Email: Kathleen.Sebelius@HHS.gov
Phone: 202-690-7000
Fax: 202-690-6392
4) National Institutes of Health, Director Francis Collins
Email: collinsf@od.nih.gov
Phone: 301-496-2433
Fax: 301-402-2700
5) National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Disease, Director Anthony Fauci
Email: afauci@niaid.nih.gov
Phone: 301-496-2263
Fax: 301-402-3573
== Protecting the Nation's Blood Supply. Not! ==
Video of our "playful-street-action-with-a-message" found here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DSzTCYPAvs
Rationale: In Oct 2009, the journal Science published a ground-breaking paper establishing an association between a newly discovered retrovirus called XMRV and the disabling illness ME/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. It's one year later and the U.S. government still has not banned people with ME/CFS from donating blood, thereby putting at risk 5 million Amerians who get blood transfusions each year. In an effort to protect their own blood supply, Australia, Canada, England and other countries *have* banned people with ME/CFS from donating blood. In the absence of the U.S. government protecting its citizens, it is up to us to turn on the political pressure; we need to force their hand with pressure from the grassroots, from "the bottom up."
Action: Email/call/fax your state Red Cross offices with the below simple 3-sentence message. If enough of us contact the local offices, they will, in turn, tell their national headquarters and the pressure will come from inside the Red Cross itself, from the bottom up. Feel free to also contact the national President and CEO of the American Red Cross. Sample email and contact info found below.
Working for change together,
Rivka, November 30, 2010
Rivka (at) ThatTakesOvaries (dot) org
SAMPLE EMAIL
Dear Red Cross,
XMRV: A newly discovered retrovirus. What are you doing to protect the nation's blood supply?
This playful YouTube video explains the seriousness of the issue http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DSzTCYPAvs
[Your name here]
[Your geographic location here]
CONTACT INFO
1) Find your local and state Red Cross offices here:
www.RedCross.org/where
If you want to do more, contact:
2) Gail McGovern, President and CEO of the American Red Cross
Email: McgovernG@USA.redcross.org
Phone: 202-303-5303
Fax: 202-303-6602
3) Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius
Email: Kathleen.Sebelius@HHS.gov
Phone: 202-690-7000
Fax: 202-690-6392
4) National Institutes of Health, Director Francis Collins
Email: collinsf@od.nih.gov
Phone: 301-496-2433
Fax: 301-402-2700
5) National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Disease, Director Anthony Fauci
Email: afauci@niaid.nih.gov
Phone: 301-496-2263
Fax: 301-402-3573
