Recognizing International Plasma Awareness Week

Floor Speech

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Ms. MATSUI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and support International Plasma Awareness Week (IPAW), October 2-6, both in the United States and around the world. Patients across the globe rely on medicines made from donated human plasma to lead productive, healthy lives. The need for plasma donation is ongoing--plasma is the starting ingredient for numerous lifesaving therapies to treat individuals living with rare diseases. This week, patients, plasma donors, and plasma donation centers will join together to raise global awareness of the crucial need for plasma, recognize the contributions of plasma donors, and call attention to the many rare diseases treated with plasma protein therapies.

Donors and patients alike will observe IPAW through a range of events seeking to enhance awareness of plasma-derived therapies and recombinant analogs, collectively known as plasma protein therapies. These are unique biologic medicines that are either infused or injected to treat a variety of rare, life-threatening, chronic, and genetic diseases. This includes bleeding disorders, hereditary angioedema, immune deficiencies, pulmonary disorders, neurological disorders, and infectious diseases such as tetanus, hepatitis, and rabies.

Plasma protein therapies have significantly improved the quality of life, markedly improved patient outcomes, and extended the life expectancy of patients across the country. Healthy, committed donors provide the human plasma essential to manufacture these lifesaving therapies. There are now over 1,100 plasma collection centers in the U.S. that have demonstrated their commitment to donor safety and quality by earning International Quality Plasma Program (IQPP) certification.

As the co-chair of the Rare Disease Congressional Caucus. I understand that hundreds of thousands of Americans with rare diseases rely on plasma protein therapies that are only available because of the commitment of dedicated plasma donors. For example, Americans living with primary immunodeficiencies (PI) require intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) treatments derived from plasma donors. Without timely care, even the most common infections can present the risk of serious illness or death for these patients. That is why I introduced the PI Post Acute Access Act, which would expand access to IVIG treatment for Medicare beneficiaries with PI in skilled nursing facilities. I have long advocated to ensure access to IVIG treatments, and I will continue to fight to ensure all Americans, including rare disease patients, have access to the innovative treatments they need.

I ask that my colleagues in the House of Representatives join me and rise in commemoration of International Plasma Awareness Week, honoring those committed donors and donation centers that make and collect needed and lifesaving contributions.

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