Sample Virtual Summit Email to Congressional Representatives
Subject: Arthritis Prevention, Control & Cure Act/S.424
Optional text to non-sponsors in the Senate (edit or add your own text):
On behalf of the 46 million Americans and the 300,000 children living with a form of arthritis, I request that you cosponsor the Arthritis Prevention, Control, and Cure Act (S. 424/H.R. 583).
Arthritis is a devastating chronic disease that causes overwhelming pain and permanent disability. It costs our country a staggering $86 billion annually; $51 billion in direct medical costs. Fifty percent of Americans with rheumatoid arthritis are forced to stop working within 10 years of diagnosis.
Americans diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis die five to 10 years earlier than persons without arthritis and 9,500 Americans died due to arthritis in 2003. Americans with rheumatoid arthritis face a significantly increased rate of cardiovascular disease.
These are a few of the hard facts about arthritis. Fortunately, there is hope. The Arthritis Prevention, Control, and Cure Act would:
- Strengthen arthritis public health initiatives, which would ensure that more people are diagnosed early and avoid pain and permanent disability.
- Ensure that our limited federal funding for arthritis research is used in the most strategic manner possible.
- Authorize a juvenile arthritis prevalence study and patient registry.
- Establish incentives so more medical students pursue a career in pediatric rheumatology.
- Authorize more juvenile arthritis research center grants.
Please help the millions of Americans living with arthritis by joining Senators Bond, Kennedy, Talent, Johnson, and Isakson, and Representatives Pickering and Eshoo in cosponsoring the Arthritis Prevention, Control, and Cure Act.
Sincerely,
Your Name Here
