October 4, 2022

The Honorable Patty Murray, Chair
The Honorable Roy Blunt, Ranking Member
The Honorable Rosa DeLauro, Chair
The Honorable Tom Cole, Ranking Member
Labor-HHS Subcommittee, Committee on Appropriations
U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510

Dear Chairwoman Murray, Chairwoman DeLauro, Ranking Member Blunt, and Ranking Member Cole:

Thank you for your support for critical public health initiatives and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The undersigned organizations write to thank you for your ongoing commitment to the Chronic Disease Education and Awareness (CDEA) program at CDC and urge you to provide $6 million for this program in the final Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations bill.

Both House and Senate bills include $6 million for this important new program, and that level of funding will allow CDC to continue to support ongoing projects and invest in new initiatives that increase public and professional awareness about chronic health conditions that do not have a designated funding line in the CDC budget.

CDC has awarded six competitive grants to improve public and professional awareness in the areas of hearing loss, lymphedema, obstructive sleep apnea, psoriasis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and cystic fibrosis. Considering the strong demand for this emerging program and its potential to support additional meaningful efforts, ongoing growth in the program in FY 2023 is necessary to ensure a competitive process to address several additional chronic health care conditions.

Thank you again for your leadership in this important area and please consider our organizations a resource as you work to address chronic diseases through the CDEA program.

Sincerely,

Accessia Health
American Academy of Sleep Medicine
American Liver Foundation
American Lung Association
American Thoracic Society
Autoimmune Association
Circadian Sleep Disorders – Network
Coalition of Skin Diseases
Digestive Disease National Coalition
Dorney-Koppel Foundation
Dystonia Medical Research Foundation
Dystonia Advocacy Network
GBS|CIDP Foundation International
Gaucher Community Alliance
Good Days
Hope Charities
Hypersomnia Foundation
International Foundation for GI Disorders
KLS Foundation
Lymphatic Education & Research Network
Narcolepsy Network
National Alopecia Areata Foundation
National Eczema Association
National Pancreas Foundation
National Psoriasis Foundation
National Scleroderma Foundation
NephCure Kidney International
Project Sleep
Pulmonary Hypertension Association
Restless Legs Syndrome Foundation
Sleep Research Society
Society for Research on Biological Rhythms
Start School Later
US COPD Coalition
US Hereditary Angioedema Association
wAIHA Warriors
Wake Up Narcolepsy