Page 20 - HFA Dateline 2021 Q4 Winter

THE LEGACY OF
HTCs

Hemophilia treatment

centers have been

around for almost
50 years. Learn about
t 58, Michael Birmingham,
of Tacoma, Washington, is their history, successes
Aold enough to remember
what life was like for kids with and new challenges.
bleeding disorders before the
advent of hemophilia treatment BY REBECCA A. CLAY
centers (HTCs). Diagnosed with
severe hemophilia A at 13 months,
he spent his early years going to the hospital whenever he needed
infusions. Then he and younger brother, Pat, began getting care through
a Stanford University pilot program that offered home infusion, which
would become a hallmark of HTCs.

That care produced such great results that in 1973, when Birmingham
was 10, his family traveled to Washington, D.C., to testify before
a congressional subcommittee looking at legislation to create
comprehensive hemophilia programs.
“Each of us boys had about a minute, and Dad talked for two or
three minutes,” remembered Birmingham, who now works as a sales
territory manager for a specialty pharmacy. The contrast between the
Birmingham boys and others was striking. “The other kids brought in
had obvious problems or talked about how hemophilia had caused
limitations and problems,” Birmingham said. “We were just normal
boys.” Although that bill didn’t pass, the boys’ testimony was an early
step in the advocacy efforts that eventually led to the creation of
today’s HTC system.

20 DATELINE FEDERATION < www.hemophiliafed.org