In the spring, the ICA once again attended the Annual Meeting of the American Urological Association, where we met with urologists from around the world and handed out more than 500 informational packages.

The ICA gave Public Witness Testimony before Congress, urging the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Education, and Health and Human Services to allocate much-needed funds for IC research.

We held Regional IC Forums in San Diego and Orlando, and participated in additional forums in Pittsburgh and Albuquerque.

In July, Dr. Vicki Ratner attended a groundbreaking Leadership Summit on Pain Management in Los Angeles, was a featured speaker at the Medtronic Patient Summit in Washington the same month, and represented the ICA at the International Urogynecology Association World Congress in Rome in October.

Dr. Ratner and other members of the ICA’s national staff met with the Social Security Administration to argue the case for adding IC to the list of approved conditions for Social Security Disability Insurance, with promising results.

In October, Dr. Robert Moldwin, a long-time friend of the ICA and a member of our national Medical Advisory Board, published his long-awaited book The Interstitial Cystitis Survival Guide, to rave reviews from patients and fellow physicians alike.

The crowning achievements of 2000, however, were two in number: First of all, the National Institutes of Health announced the earmarking of $7.5 million for a desperately needed Four-Year Epidemiology Study to determine the full scope and impact of IC in the American population. The ICA was instrumental in advocating for this study and has long called for large-scale epidemiological research as the first step in gaining a full understanding of the impact of this disease on our society.

Secondly, the ICA hosted its Tenth National Meeting, the Millennium Meeting, in Minneapolis, MN, with record attendance, a brand new format, and a whole array of exciting and innovative programs. Patient response to this most recent ICA national event has been overwhelmingly positive, and all of us came home from the Millennium Meeting with a renewed dedication to the ICA and its mission.