CPF Urges Congress to Increase Funding for IPF Research in 2009 Fede...( Success of 2007 National IPF Awar...),Health

Success of 2007 National IPF Awareness Week on Capitol Hill Drives Efforts to Increase Research, Awareness for Deadly Lung Disease

SAN JOSE, Calif., Oct. 4 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Coalition for Pulmonary Fibrosis (CPF) today announced that the success of its fifth annual National IPF Awareness Week, which included meetings with nearly 60 members of Congress about the critical need to fund new research into idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), a progressive and ultimately fatal lung disease affecting more than 128,000 Americans. Currently, there is no FDA-approved treatment, no known cause and no cure for IPF.

Nearly 50 CPF advocates, many of whom were patients and family members, took part in meetings on Capitol Hill the week of Sept. 24 and urged Congress to increase federal funding for IPF research in the Fiscal Year 2009 budget cycle. The group urged passage of legislation important to the IPF community, including a resolution specifically calling for IPF research and ending the Medicare Disability waiting period for patients with life-threatening diseases.

National IPF Awareness Week Highlights

The highlights of the week included a Congressional reception hosted by Reps. Brian Baird (D-WA), Nathan Deal (R-GA) and Mike Castle (R-DE), all of whom have been personally touched by IPF, which included an award presentation to the late Congressman Charlie Norwood's widow for his efforts in IPF. The CPF also hosted a meeting with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and sponsored a patient education day in partnership with INOVA Fairfax Hospital, featuring speakers from INOVA, the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center, the University of Michigan, New York-Presbyterian Hospital/ Weill Cornell Medical Center and Johns Hopkins Medical Center. The CPF also ran an aggressive print and online advertising campaign before and during IPF Week aimed at Members of Congress in support of its advocacy efforts.

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