FY 2009 Omnibus Appropriations Act Includes Increases for Programs Advocated by the LFA

FY 2009 Omnibus Appropriations Act Includes Increases for Programs Advocated by the LFA

March 11, 2009
article by Lupus Foundation of America (Reference Below)

The United States Senate today passed appropriations legislation which funds much of the federal government through the end of September. The bill provides $4 million to support the National Lupus Patient Registry, as part of a broader national epidemiological study on lupus, and $1 million for a national health provider education program to improve early diagnosis and treatment of lupus and reduce health disparities. The legislation also includes nearly $1 billion more for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the largest single source for funding for biomedical research on lupus.

Under the legislation, passed by the U.S. House of Representatives last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will receive an additional $1 million to further expand the National Lupus Patient Registry (NLPR). In 2003, the CDC received $1 million to establish lupus registries in Georgia and Michigan. LFA has advocated expanding the program to include additional sites in other parts of the U.S. to ensure the study includes all forms of lupus and all populations affected by lupus, particularly African Americans, Hispanics/Latinos, Asian Americans, and Native Americans who are disproportionately at-risk for lupus. Thanks to all of the hard work of LFA advocates, last year Congress tripled funding for the registry. The registry will receive another substantial increase in funding for 2009.

The legislation, named the FY 2009 Omnibus Appropriations Act (H.R. 1105), also provides funds to conduct a national health provider education program on lupus. Congress provided $1 million for this program, to be operated jointly by the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health, Office on Women’s Health, and the U.S Surgeon General. The education program addresses a key goal for the LFA’s advocacy efforts to improve early diagnosis and treatment of lupus. According to a LFA survey, more than half of the people with lupus reported they suffered symptoms of the disease for four or more years and visited three or more doctors before obtaining a diagnosis of lupus.

LFA officials also express appreciation to Congress for their steadfast support of the National Institutes of Health. Research supported by the NIH is a critical component of efforts to find the causes of lupus and development safer, more tolerable and effective treatments for the disease.
Senate passage of the 2009 appropriations legislation follows the LFA’s Eleventh Annual Advocacy Day when advocates from across the nation gathered in Washington, D.C. Advocates met with Members of Congress or staff members on March 3, 2009 and shared the message that federal funding for lupus research in 2010 must be expanded.

Reference: http://www.lupus.org/webmodules/webarticlesnet/templates/new_empty.aspx?articleid=2395&zoneid=99