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August 2007
Dear Senator
(enter name) or Congressman (enter name);
Before lending that support to Hepatitis C Epidemic
Act, HR 2552, we believe you should have an opportunity to consider
our position as well.
HR2552/S1445 does not address the needs of the Hepatitis C infected
population but creates another funding source for the largest
unaccountable, single disease program in our nation's history,
HIV/AIDS.
HIV/AIDS currently receives billions in federal funding to
address the prevention, education, and treatment of 1 million US
citizens infected with HIV/AIDS while pushing to expand the programs
of HIV/AIDS globally and consuming diseases such as viral hepatitis,
along the way.
HR 2552 focus is on only on perceived “high risk” populations; IV
drug abusers, MSM, and the sex trades. These are the same
populations currently served through the HIV/AIDS programs.
If these programs are not effective in slowing all bloodborne
infections through their message, than the problem lies in the lack
of accountability and oversight. Adding another disease emphasis
and funding will not solve this problem. Instead it creates a
de-emphasis on a declared epidemic, Hepatitis C; spreading 10 times
faster than HIV/AIDS and infecting 5 times more Americans.
Hepatitis C Epidemic Act, HR 2552 excludes:
- The general population in which infections occurred through
transfusions blood products, organ and tissue transplants,
medical procedures, tattoo body piercing, employment and ways we
have yet to determine.
- The Military Retirees and Veteran population not notified by
Veterans Affairs, Navy Mil or DoD the risk of infection service
posed throughout the 1990s by infected blood products, dental
and medical procedures including the use of reusable
needles, vials and jet injection systems during unsterilized
mass vaccination sessions.
- The foreign born population is at high risk from blood
products and unsterilized medical procedures performed in their
countries of origin.
Hepatitis C Epidemic Act, HR 2552 promotes discrimination
by focusing all funding on “high risk” populations while skipping
the largest infected population, those really “at risk”.
Organizations who support this Bill in the name of advocacy, should
be looked at closely for their composition. They comprise HIV/AIDS
groups, pharmaceutical companies, and a splattering of STD and
Immunization programs, with a stake in promoting these limited modes
of transmission and "high risk" population as a means of addressing
the epidemic.
http://www.nastad.org/Docs/Public/InFocus/200758_2006AR_final.pdf
Please read Senator
Tom Coburn, MD, government oversight investigational report. The
Centers for Disease Control's (CDC) is under investigation for
inefficiency and ineffective leadership. The report details how CDC
"Reorganization" has really meant privatizing an agency established
to protect public's interest. Unless things change drastically
within the HIV/AIDS industry, our fate is at best in parallel if
this legislation passes, as accountability for funding and political
verses scientifically based decisions have gone so far as to deceive
the public.
http://march-on-dc.com/CDC/index.html
We believe once congress sees through this attempt to fund HIV/AIDS
we can begin to address the needs of the Hepatitis C infected
population with accountability and oversight as key components of
any Hepatitis C legislation. We do not want a repeat the mistakes
of HIV/AIDS programs!
If we fail, Hep C funding is absorbed into a "confusing and
misleading" public heath campaign that will not notify those most at
risk, and certainly will not stop the spread of this virus.
Sincerely,
Your constituent,
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