“Did you know that our special month for raising awareness about bleeding disorders has been around for almost 40 years? It all started back in 1986 when President Reagan set aside March as National Hemophilia Awareness Month. This happened during a really tough time when many in our hemophilia family were affected by contaminated blood products.

For about 30 years, the focus was mainly on hemophilia. But in 2016, something important changed – the month was officially renamed to “Bleeding Disorders Awareness Month.” This new name recognized that our community includes people with many different conditions – not just hemophilia, but also von Willebrand disease and other bleeding disorders.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, there are about 3 million people nationwide who are affected by bleeding disorders.

Between 30,000 and 33,000 people in the U.S. are thought to live with hemophilia. The most common bleeding disorder is von Willebrand disease (VWD), which affects about 1 in every 100 people.”

National Bleeding Disorders Foundation, formerly NHF

(Bleeding Disorders Awareness Month | National Bleeding Disorders Foundation)