Senator Coons attended a Regional Patient Advocacy Leaders Summit hosted by the American Lung Association last week. This summit gave staff, volunteers and leaders in patient advocacy the opportunity to learn about issues on the horizon. The summit also included networking and discussions of new avenues for advocacy.
Senator Coons addressed about 70 regional patient advocates. He talked about the bipartisan Pulmonary Fibrosis Research Enhancement Act of 2011, a bill he introduced to increase the awareness, understanding and research being done to find the root cause – and a cure – for Pulmonary Fibrosis. He also discussed the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, which has already helped 6,000 young Delawareans get insurance.
For more on Chris’ work on health care, click here.
On Thursday, Senator Coons joined Senator Carper and Congressman Carney at the Delaware Children’s Museum in Wilmington to announce two federal grants awarded to Nemours for a combined total of nearly $6 million to help build healthier communities.
“These grants will serve tens of thousands of Delawareans, helping them live happier, healthier lives,” Chris said. In his remarks, he reiterated the significant impact that these grants will have on preventative care and early intervention, touching upon how it could enact change in areas such as the struggle with obesity and chronic diseases in young children.
For more on Chris’ work on health care, click here.
Annie Coons joined around a thousand children from across the state on Friday at Duffy’s Hope Field Day, hosted in conjunction with the Let’s Move initiative. The event took place in Wilmington, an official Let’s Move city, and was the kick-off for Duffy’s Hope 10th Anniversary Celebration. Participants took part in field day activities, healthy lifestyle workshops and a celebrity softball game.
“Staying fit and active is extremely important to your health and well-being. It impacts every part of your life, and has even been proven to help students do better in school,” Annie said. “Let’s Move is a great initiative that is motivating kids to make smart choices, exercise, and have fun.”
Duffy’s Hope Field Day was hosted in conjunction with Let’s Move, a healthy eating initiative launched by First Lady Michelle Obama. Let’s Move targets childhood obesity and is committed to solving this challenge within a generation. By presenting parents helpful information and providing healthier foods in our schools, Let’s Move work so all families and children develop a more healthy and active lifestyle.
Duffy’s Hope Inc. is a nonprofit that has helped over 2,500 school-aged children. The organization targets underserved, impoverished, and at-risk youth in Wilmington, and provides advocacy and mentoring. The funds from Duffy’s Hope 10th Anniversary Celebration weekend will support their mentoring program, H.O.P.E. (Helping Our Young People Excel).
As a strong advocate for science-based research, Senator Coons this week joined a bipartisan group of 56 Senators – more than half the Senate – to urge quick action on legislation to combat pancreatic cancer. The group came together to sign a letter urging their colleagues to move forward on the Pancreatic Cancer Research & Education Act, which would require the National Institutes of Health to lead a strategic plan to address this disease.
Pancreatic cancer is the fourthleading cause of cancer death in the United States and will strike 43,000 Americans this year, 74 percent of whom will die within a year of diagnosis.
The letter, addressed to the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, stated that pancreatic cancer is “unique biologically and requires focused research. Because pancreatic cancer is one of the most scientifically-complicate cancers, the advances we make in understanding the disease may have spillover effects in understanding treatments and cures for other cancers.”
The proposed pancreatic cancer legislation follows in the footsteps of other legislative actions to eradicate other pernicious diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, breast cancer, autism, diabetes, and HIV/AIDS. The legislation would “provide a critical tool for making progress in this terrible disease,” but the strategic plan would not compel the NIH, Centers for Disease Control (CDC), or National Cancer Institute (NCI) to allocate taxpayer dollars for disease specific research. Rather, funds would be allocated “on a peer-reviewed basis.”
During a Democratic Steering Committee meeting this week, Chris engaged leaders of the biomedical research community, including NIH Director Francis Collins, in a dialogue on biotech research and what Congressional action would best facilitate academic research. The panel of experts, which included two Delawareans, unanimously agreed that greater government funding will spur economic growth. Dr. Collins also pointed out that every dollar of NIH funding yields a return of $2.25 in the first year alone.
Over 650,000 people died of malaria in 2010, according to the World Health Organization, even though the disease is both curable and preventable. As co-chair of the Malaria Working Group in the U.S. Senate, Senator Coons is working hard to end senseless malaria deaths, the majority of which are suffered by children under five years old.
On Thursday morning, the Malaria No More Policy Center honored Chris and his co-chair of the Malaria Working Group, Senator Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), with their Malaria Vision Award at the Fourth Annual Malaria Champions Breakfast in Washington. The award recognizes those who assist in the battle against malaria and who advocate a bold policy to help combat the disease.
“Today we commend the ongoing leadership and commitment of the awardees, and recognize the many contributions of the U.S. Government to the malaria fight,” Dr. David Bowen, Malaria No More CEO, said in a press release. “Through the continued innovations in research and development, we have the potential to save millions of lives around the world and finally put an end to malaria deaths.”
“I am honored to accept this award alongside my friend Senator Wicker,” Chris said. “As co-chairs of the Malaria Working Group, we are committed to continuing to fight for the full scope of resources necessary to end senseless deaths from malaria. This is an issue that crosses the partisan divide and deserves continued strong, bipartisan support. Whether you live in central Africa or central Delaware, in the 21st century, no one should die of a preventable, treatable disease like malaria.”
To learn more about Senator Coons’ work on malaria, click here.
Today, Senator Coons marked World Malaria Day by highlighting Delaware’s unique, important role in eradicating the disease worldwide.
This afternoon, Chris spoke at an event hosted by Malaria No More featuring the latest U.S. research and development from public and private institutions working to combat malaria. One of the institutions included was Delaware’s own Fraunhofer Center for Molecular Biology, which is utilizing a nearly $10 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to develop a transmission-blocking vaccine that would render bites from malarial mosquito harmless.
“While we have come a long way in lowering the number of malaria-related deaths, we still have much work to do to stem the spread of this preventable, treatable disease,” Senator Coons said. “Through public and private research, we are developing promising new advancements in eradicating malaria globally, and the Delaware-based Fraunhofer Center for Molecular Biology is leading the charge.”
Malaria is a parasitic blood disease spread by mosquitoes, and while it was eradicated from the United States in 1951, the debilitating disease still kills 655,000 people each year around the world. It is most prevalent in the developing world, with 90 percent of related deaths occurring in Africa. The majority of those killed are pregnant women and children under five years old.
In partnership with Senator Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Senator Coons has sponsored two resolutions supporting the goals of World Malaria Day, which aims to end malaria deaths by 2015. He also supports U.S. leadership to combat malaria as a critical component of the President’s Global Health Initiative.
Senator Coons’ office recently came together to create an employee team for the Blood Bank of Delmarva. It is important to Chris and his staff that Delawareans are aware of the Blood Bank’s life- changing and life-saving work.
The Blood Bank of Delmarva is a non-profit community service organization that provides blood and blood products to 16 hospitals on the Delmarva Peninsula. In the past year, over 50,000 people provided blood donations for over 20,000 recipients.
This is a time when the nation’s blood supply is often experiencing critical shortages. Many people are unaware that much of today’s medical care depends on a steady supply of blood from healthy donors. About one out of every seven people entering a hospital needs blood.
“Blood donation is about saving lives,” said Chris. “A member of my staff recently shared with me that her father is here today because of the generosity of blood donors--a sudden illness required that he receive 11 pints of blood. He was fortunate that blood was available at the time of his emergency because that is not always the case. In order to keep saving lives, we must continue to encourage others to donate.”
One pint of blood, the average donation, can save up to three people’s lives. If only an additional one percent of all Americans gave blood, blood shortages would disappear for the foreseeable future.
Healthy adults who are at least 17 years old and weigh at least 110 pounds may donate one pint of blood every two months. The process takes one hour and four easy steps: medical history, quick physical, give blood and snacks.
The Blood Bank of Delmarva operates four blood donor centers throughout Delaware and the Eastern Shore of Maryland, as well as 32 established mobile donation locations. Check with your company, school, place of worship, or civic organization to see if they host blood drives.
For more information about the Blood Bank, creating a team, or to schedule an appointment to give blood visit: www.delmarvablood.org
The Associated Press reported Tuesday on the achievement of a U.N. goal of cutting in half the proportion of people without access to safe drinking water five years ahead of the 2015 target.
A report issued by the U.N. children’s agency and the World Health Organization said over 2 billion people gained access to safe drinking water between 1990 and 2010.
That means 89 percent of the world’s population, or 6.1 billion people, had access to safe water sources at the end of 2010 — one percent more than the goal of 88 percent set by world leaders at the U.N. Millennium Summit in 2000, the report said.
But UNICEF and WHO said victory can’t be declared because 783 million people — 11 percent of the global population — still have no ready access to safe drinking water
Senator Chris Coons, chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on African Affairs, praised the milestone but remains vigilant about expanding access to safe drinking water in Africa, which has some of the lowest levels of access anywhere in the world.
Only 61 percent of people in sub-Saharan Africa have access to safe drinking water sources compared with 90 percent or more in Latin America and the Caribbean, northern Africa, and large parts of Asia, the report said.
Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, approximately 320,000 Delawareans will no longer face lifetime limits on their private health insurance, according to new data release by the White House on Monday. Nationally, 105 million Americans are protected.
This lifetime limit ban is just one of many new consumer protections created by the law that was passed by Congress on June 25, 2010. Annual dollar limits on coverage are being phased out, and 54 million Americans received new coverage of prevention without cost sharing in 2011.
Senator Coons is a firm believer that all Americans deserve accessible, affordable health care.
Throughout the course of our nation’s history, women often had to struggle for equality on all fronts. March is Women’s History Month, and while we remember the heroic efforts of women who came before, we must also be mindful that there remains work to be done.
Thirty-nine years ago, the United States Supreme Court recognized a woman’s right to make her own decisions about starting a family and protecting her body. Some are still fighting, however, to roll back this right.
Instead of focusing on our economic recovery and creating jobs, some members of this Congress have chosen to prioritize legislation that would infringe on women’s access to health care services.
On Thursday, the first day of Women’s History Month, the Senate was forced to vote on an amendment introduced by Republican Senator Roy Blunt of Missouri which would have allowed employers to take away preventive health care coverage from millions of women.
This amendment failed to pass – by a slim margin of 51-48 – and working women’s ability to access vital health services such as mammograms, contraception and prenatal care remains intact.
This month, and every month, we have an opportunity to recognize the wide range of contributions American women have made to our country. As we strive to form a more perfect union, we must remain committed to the cause of equality, indifferent to race, income, sexual orientation, and indeed, sex.
Today, Senator Coons marked World Malaria Day by highlighting Delaware’s unique, important role in eradicating the disease worldwide. 