Last week, President Obama released his proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2010 (October 1, 2009-September 30, 2010). His budget request calls for an extremely inadequate $51,000 increase for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Division of Viral Hepatitis. This increase is set for pay increases only. This is far below what is needed, and below the modest request of a total budget of $50 million that advocates are asking for in these challenging economic times.

Fortunately, the President’s budget request is only a recommendation. Congress will decide how much funding will go to fight hepatitis in the next Fiscal Year. This gives us an opportunity to talk to our own elected Representatives and Senators to urge them to fight for a meaningful increase to bring the total budget of the Division of Viral Hepatitis to $50 million.

Another important and crucial step in our advocacy in making Congress take greater action on the viral hepatitis epidemic is to officially recognize May 19th as World Hepatitis Day and the month of May as Viral Hepatitis Awareness Month. We currently have a resolution in the House and Senate. We are working on getting more Members of Congress to show their support for it by becoming a “cosponsor”. Members who cosponsor a resolution are essentially telling us that when the resolution comes to a vote, they will vote for it!

Representatives Ahn Cao (R-LA), Charles Dent (R-PA), Mike Honda (D-CA), Edolphus Towns (D-NY) along with Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) in the Senate, have authored Resolutions acknowledging World Hepatitis Day and Viral Hepatitis Awareness Month. We need as many Representatives in the House as possible to cosponsor the House Resolution and as many Senators as possible to cosponsor the Senate Resolution to show their support for addressing the hepatitis C epidemic, as well as viral hepatitis overall.

Please take a few minutes to make 3 important phone calls!

How you can help:

Please make your calls as soon as possible.

First, call your U.S. House Representative’s office in Washington, DC. Ask to speak to the staff person who handles health care issues. You might get their voicemail or you might speak to them live. Either way, tell them:

“My name is ____________ and I live in (city/state). Hepatitis C is a serious health problem in the United States and a very important issue to me. I urge Representative _____________ to show leadership in the fight against hepatitis C by cosponsoring Representative Honda’s resolution acknowledging May 19th as World Hepatitis Day and the month of May as Viral Hepatitis Awareness Month. It is crucial that you cosponsor as soon as possible before World Hepatitis Day passes next Tuesday on May 19th. I also urge the Representative to support a total budget of $50 million for the Division of Viral Hepatitis in the Fiscal Year 2010 appropriations bill. President Obama’s budget request for hepatitis is highly inadequate and we need Congress to provide a meaningful increase in funding that not only goes to pay increases but much needed prevention services. Thank you.”

Then, call your two U.S. Senators’ offices in Washington, DC. Ask to speak to the staff person who handles health care issues. You might get their voicemail or you might speak to them live. Either way, tell them:

“My name is ____________ and I live in (city/state). Hepatitis C is a serious health problem in the United States and a very important issue to me. I urge Senator _____________ to show leadership in the fight against hepatitis C by cosponsoring Senator Feinstein’s resolution acknowledging May 19th as World Hepatitis Day and the month of May as Viral Hepatitis Awareness Month. It is crucial that you cosponsor as soon as possible before World Hepatitis Day passes next Tuesday on May 19th. I also urge the Senator to support a total budget of $50 million for the Division of Viral Hepatitis in the Fiscal Year 2010 appropriations bill. President Obama’s budget request for hepatitis is highly inadequate and we need Congress to provide a meaningful increase in funding that not only goes to pay increases but much needed prevention services. Thank you.”

If there is time, talk about why this issue is important to you. You will likely only have time for 2-3 sentences. You might want to practice before making the call. Members of Congress and their staff pay attention when a constituent talks about how an issue affects their lives or people they care about.

You can reach your Representative and Senators by calling the Capitol Switchboard at 1-202-224-3121. If you don’t know who your Representatives and Senators are, go to www.congress.org and enter your zip code in the upper right corner.

Hepatitis C Advocates UNITED!  is a national, grassroots network of individuals and organizations fighting for increased funding for hepatitis programs and legislation to mount a comprehensive federal effort to fight the disease. We design grassroots strategies to educate our elected representatives about the need for adequate HCV funding and policies, including action alerts, sign-on letters legislative meetings, media activities, and other campaigns. We also share information and strategies on state-level issues and campaigns. We communicate through a moderated listserv and monthly conference calls. Hepatitis C Advocates UNITED! was formed by the Hepatitis C Appropriations Partnership (HCAP) and the National Hepatitis C Advocacy Council (NHCAC). To join the network, send an email to rclary@projectinform.org with “subscribe” in the subject field. Please include your name and city/state in the email.