WASHINGTON, DC—(Marketwired – June 26, 2015) – Yesterday, the Senate Appropriations Committee passed their spending bill that includes good news for people with lupus and provides funding for valuable lupus research and education programs. The Committee has reconfirmed its ongoing support of these vital lupus programs that our advocates from every state have championed for many years.
The Committee's 2016 spending bill includes funding requested by the Foundation:
$5.75 million for the National Lupus Patient Registry program at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the first comprehensive research study to assess the prevalence and incidence of lupus in the United States;
$1 million, requested by the Foundation, for the Lupus Initiative at the Office of Minority Health which develops vitally important tools for physicians to help them better recognize the signs and symptoms of lupus;
$1 million to initiate a clinical trial action plan; and
$32 billion for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), an increase of $2 billion.
Earlier this month, hundreds of Lupus Foundation of America advocates were on Capitol Hill for our National Lupus Advocacy Summit and an additional thousand wrote letters to call on Congress to support at least $32 billion in research funding for the NIH and support the 21st Century Cures Act to help get new treatments to lupus patients faster. Lupus activists met with their members of Congress to share their stories and bring to life the daily, devastating impact of this disease and demonstrate the urgent need to elevate lupus to a place of prominence and secure additional funding for lupus research needed to develop an arsenal of treatments for people with lupus.
The legislation will now be sent to the full Senate and House of Representatives for consideration and the bills will be reconciled in conference committee. The Lupus Foundation of America will continue to work with Congress to raise lupus on the nation's health care agenda and convey the need for robust funding for lupus research.