I spent July 12 on Capitol Hill in Washington DC, logging over 4 miles as I walked between 3 buildings to talk about rare kidney disease with the offices of eight senators and representatives. Thank you to our partners at NephCure for organizing this Rare Kidneys on the Hill Day. It was an inspiring and positive experience, especially as we learned that several of the lawmakers and legislative assistants we spoke with had personal or family connections with kidney disease.
There are several bills and appropriations requests before Congress right now, so as an expert community we have an important opportunity to advocate for more funding for glomerular disease research, medical training, patient access, and health equity. These are initiatives that generally have broad bipartisan support, but our legislators need to hear how important they are and what a significant impact these will have on their constituents' lives.
Executive Director Laurel Damashek (3rd from left) with Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) and the advocacy team from MA, WI and DE
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