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Request that Your Members of Congress Send a Letter to the CDC

Action Alert!

Request that your Members of Congress send a letter to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expressing support for interstitial cystitis education and awareness activities

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently changed the scope of the Interstitial Cystitis (IC) Education and Awareness Program to an epidemiology study, effectively eliminating the only federal program that directly helped the 4-12 million patients with IC. Ask your legislators in the House and Senate to send a letter or make a phone call to CDC expressing support for the traditional IC education and awareness activities of the IC Program.

To determine your House Representative: Visit www.house.gov, and enter your zip code in the box on the top-right corner of the webpage. Click ‘go’ and a link to the webpage of your House office will appear. You may need to enter your full address if more than one Representative is listed.

To determine your two Senators: Visit www.senate.gov, and select your state in the drop-down menu on the top-right corner of the webpage. Click ‘go.’ Your two Senate offices will appear with their DC office phone numbers and webpages.

Action:

  1. Call your legislators’ Washington, DC offices
  2. Tell the person that answers the phone that you are a constituent
  3. Ask to speak with the health staffer (or your contact) and deliver the message below. If you can’t reach the health staffer, it is OK to deliver the message to someone else or to a voicemail
  4. Ask if you can send a follow-up email and request an email address
  5. Send a follow-up email based on the message below

Recommended Message – [brackets] indicate where to insert specific information:

  • “I am a resident of [CITY]. [Thank them for any meetings you may have had with the office]
  • I am contacting you to ask your office to send a letter to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) expressing support for the traditional education and awareness activities of the CDC Interstitial Cystitis (IC) Program
  • IC is a condition that consists of recurring pelvic pain, pressure, or discomfort in the bladder and pelvic region, often associated with urinary frequency (needing to go often) and urgency (feeling a strong need to go)
  • [Briefly tell your story as a patient, parent, caregiver, etc. Explain why IC education and awareness is important to you]
  • CDC recently changed the scope of the IC Education and Awareness Program to an epidemiology study, effectively eliminating the only federal program that directly helped the 4-12 million patients with IC. I hope you will express your support for the traditional education and awareness activities by either sending a letter (draft provided) or placing a call with a similar message to the CDC Division of Population Health
  • Please keep me posted on the actions you take. You can reach me at [phone and/or email]

 

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