Fall 2010 Update:
We are grateful that elements of the Congenital Heart Futures Act were included in the Affordable Care Act. But now comes the hard part. Funding for increased research and surveillance will need to be appropriated annually.
Urge your Senators and Representatives to contact the Chairpersons of the Health and Human Services Appropriations Subcommittee to ensure that they include funds in the Fiscal Year 2011 Labor, Health and Human Services Appropriations bill to fund the congenital heart disease surveillance system at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
These funds would:
- Increased Research: The Congenital Heart Futures Act urges the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute to conduct or support research on diagnosis, treatment, prevention and long-term outcomes in congenital heart disease which addresses the needs of infants, children, teens, adults and the elderly living with congenital heart disorders.
- Increased Surveillance: The Congenital Heart Futures Act asks the CDC to create the National Congenital Heart Surveillance System, which will provide nationally representative population based epidemiological and longitudinal data on infants, children, and adults with congenital heart disease in order to better understand CHD incidence, prevalence, and disease burden and assess the public health impact of CHD.
