On Thursday, February 25, at the National Hemophilia Foundation's (NHF's) Washington Days advocacy event on Capitol Hill, NHF formally launched the Red Tie Challenge, a movement created to start a conversation about inheritable bleeding disorders and support March 2016 as the first Bleeding Disorders Awareness Month. Visitors to the Hill engaged with their state legislators in Congress and their staff, asking for their support of the challenge and of the month's designation to raise awareness of bleeding disorders.
The Red Tie Challenge encourages individuals and groups to show their support for the bleeding disorders community by:
- recording a short video that shows how they wear a red tie and pledging their support for Bleeding Disorders Awareness Month
- encouraging their fans and followers to take the challenge
- posting the video to their social channels with #RedTieChallenge and
- consider making a donation to support the bleeding disorders community: www.redtiechallenge.org.
“Because blood ties, embodied in the color red and the tie, are what bind our community together, the red tie is the new symbol for the bleeding disorders community,” said Val D. Bias, NHF CEO. “The color red also conveys strength, leadership, courage, determination and, above all, empathy and love—qualities and emotions that define our community.”
People can also visit the Red Tie Challenge Thunderclap page: http://thndr.me/calIw8 and pledge to take the challenge and support the bleeding disorders community by signing up via their Twitter, Facebook or Tumblr accounts. Then on April 17, which is World Hemophilia Day, that message will be mass-shared via their social feeds.
Designating March as Bleeding Disorders Awareness Month
NHF worked with the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to have each March recognized as Bleeding Disorders Awareness Month. As a result, this month is now recognized by HHS as an official National Health Observance.
“By celebrating the first Bleeding Disorders Awareness Month in March, taking the Red Tie Challenge and joining NHF’s Thunderclap, you show our community that we are not alone in the fight against inheritable bleeding disorders,” said Bias. “By making a donation at www.redtiechallenge.org, you help advance the mission of NHF and our 51 chapters.”
Red Tie Challenge Sponsors
NHF wishes to thank the bleeding disorders community, our 51-chapter network, and the following companies for making the Red Tie Challenge possible: Alnylam Pharmaceuticals; Baxalta; Bayer; Biogen; CSL Behring; Emergent BioSolutions Inc.; Genentech; Grifols; Novo Nordisk; Octapharma; and Pfizer.
