On February 26, 2015, more than 130 congenital heart disease (CHD) advocates will be reaching out to their lawmakers to ask for three simple things.
We urge Congress to:
- Provide $10.0 million in FY2016 to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center on Birth Defects and Disabilities to support surveillance and public health research to build upon current activities to better understand the public health impact of congenital heart disease across the lifespan.
- Support the National Institutes of Health’s efforts to develop innovative and cost effective treatment options for those living with congenital heart disease.
- Continue robust funding of the Department of Defense Peer Reviewed Medical Program to help lessen the disparate research funding of the most common and costly birth defects.
Members can support these activities today by:
- Signing the Congenital Heart Dear Colleague Letter.
- Joining the Congressional Congenital Heart Caucus.
- Submitting a Congenital Heart Appropriations Request.
Join with your fellow advocates and contact your lawmakers on February 26. Click here for the materials that you can share with them.
Action is simple—only three easy steps:
1. Visit House.gov and Senate.gov to find your legislator’s contact information. Remember, everyone has two Senators and one Representative.
2. Call their Washington office and say:
"Hello, my name is _________. I/my child/my patients have congenital heart defects, the most common birth defect. We need more NIH funding for research, more CDC funding for data collection, and we need YOU to join the Congressional Congenital Heart Caucus. For more information, please email me at ______________. Or contact ACHA at advocacy@achaheart.org."
If you would like to add more detail:
- Congenital heart defects are the most common birth defects.
- There are more than 2 million people living with congenital heart disease.
- CHD is a leading cause of death for infants, and remains a cause of premature death throughout the lifespan.
- The NIH is the largest funder of congenital heart disease research.
- The CDC’s National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities has made congenital heart disease a public health priority.
- Talk about how you or someone you know has benefited from CHD research.
3. Let us know you took action: advocacy@achaheart.org and use #CHDAdvocacy when sharing on social media!