Congressman Wolf secured a significant increase in research funding at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), a topic which was discussed at last night’s townhall forum at Centreville High School on the disease. Given the growing presence of this disease in our area, this is welcome news and we can do more on the state level too to raise awareness.Â
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From the Office of Congressman Frank Wolf
For Immediate Release
July 20, 2009
Contact: Dan Scandling, Jennifer Allen
(202) 225-5136
KEY HOUSE COMMITTEE APPROVES SIGNIFICANT INCREASEÂ IN FUNDING FOR LYME DISEASE RESEARCH
Annual Spending Measure Urges CDC and NIH to Expand Study of Tick-Borne
Diseases;Â Bill Also Calls for National ConferenceÂ
Washington, D.C. – A key House committee has approved a significant increase in research funding for the treatment of Lyme disease and calls on both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to step up their research, Rep. Frank Wolf (R-10th) announced today.
Wolf, who as chairman of the bipartisan House Lyme Disease Caucus has worked tirelessly to increase awareness of Lyme over the last year, said the full House Appropriations Committee increased the CDC’s budget for Lyme disease by more than $3.6 million to $8,938,000 as part of the fiscal year 2010 Labor-Health and Human Services-Education spending bill approved last week.Â
“The cases of Lyme disease in our region are soaring,†said Wolf, who last August held a town hall meeting in Loudoun that more than 300 people attended. Similar informational meetings are being held in Fairfax and Loudoun this week. The Fairfax meeting, sponsored by Supervisors Pat Herrity and Mike Frey, is at 7 p.m. on July 22 at Centreville High School.  The Loudoun meeting, sponsored by Loudoun County Public Library, will be at 9 a.m. on July 25 at the Rust Library in Leesburg.
Wolf said the FY 2010 Labor-HHS bill encourages the CDC to:
· Expand its activities related to developing sensitive and more accurate diagnostic tools and tests for Lyme disease, including the evaluation of emerging diagnostic methods and improving utilization of diagnostic testing to account for the multiple clinical manifestations of acute and chronic Lyme disease.Â
· Expand its epidemiological research activities on tick-borne diseases to include an objective to determine the long-term course of illness for Lyme disease.Â
· Improve surveillance and reporting of Lyme and other tick-borne diseases in order to produce more accurate data on their prevalence.
· Evaluate the feasibility of developing a national reporting system on Lyme disease, including laboratory reporting.
· Expand prevention of Lyme and tick-borne diseases through increased community-based public education and creating a physician education program that includes the full spectrum of scientific research on the diseases.Â
The bill also urges the NIH to intensify its research on tick-borne diseases and encourages the agency to “support research that may lead to the development or more sensitive and accurate diagnostic tests for Lyme disease.â€
In addition, the bill calls for the NIH and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) to sponsor a scientific conference on Lyme and other tick-borne diseases. The report language accompanying the bill said “the committee believes that the conference should represent the broad spectrum of scientific views on Lyme disease and should provide a forum for public participation and input for public participation and input from individuals with Lyme disease.â€
“I am hopeful that giving CDC and NIH the tools to work on more accurate diagnostic testing, directing both agencies to take all scientific viewpoints into account when evaluating Lyme, and ensuring that Lyme patients are part of the discussion, will go a long way toward raising awareness in our region,†Wolf said. “I am committed to making a difference on this issue and encourage parents, especially during the summer months, to check their children for ticks when they come indoors.â€Â
“Lyme is a serious and devastating disease,†Wolf continued. “I am hopeful that through increased education and awareness efforts about the threat of Lyme disease, we can help to ensure people living in high risk areas know how to protect themselves and their children from ticks.â€Â
The full House is expected to take up the bill next week; the Senate has yet to act on its version of the spending plan.Â
In the 110th Congress Wolf cosponsored the Lyme and Tick-Borne Disease Prevention, Education, and Research Act, bipartisan legislation introduced by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), which would have authorized $100 million over five years to expand Lyme Disease research and education. Regrettably, this legislation was not considered by the House.Â
Wolf also wrote the inspector general at the Department of Health and Human Services asking that the department review its continued link to Lyme treatment guidelines published by the Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA) in light of a finding by Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal that several IDSA panel members may hold conflicts of interest.Â
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