CFIDS/CFS/M.E. Awareness "NO" To Drugs!

Target:

SENATE

Sponsored by:

D.G.F.

(For Senators)

The Honorable [Full Name]
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510

     (OR for Representatives)

The Honorable [Full Name]
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Senator [Last Name]:
(OR Dear Representative [Last Name]:

        I ask that you recognize the designation of May 12, 1997 as
International CFIDS Awareness Day. I, along with hundreds of thousands of
other Americans, have chronic fatigue and immune dysfunction syndrome
(CFIDS), also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). CFIDS is a
devastating illness. Scientists have learned that it affects the immune
system, the endocrine system and the brain, but its cause remains unknown
and no cure has been found.

        I can no longer work due to the pain and cognitive problems
resulting from CFIDS. Please help continue the search for answers that
will help me and others with CFIDS become productive citizens once again.
Please support the requests of The CFIDS Association of America.

Sincerely,

[Sign your name and include your address.]

[Enclose the suggested legislation language.]

Suggested Telephone Call Script:

Hello. My name is [Your Name] and I live in [City, State]. I have chronic
fatigue and immune dysfunction syndrome (CFIDS) and I'm calling because
today is International CFIDS Awareness Day. Currently the cause of CFIDS is
unknown and there is no cure. I request that Mr./Ms. [Name of Senator or
Representative] help to change this by supporting increased funding for
CFIDS research. Thank you for sharing this message with [him or her].

        Please support legislation that will increase attention to and the
level of money spent on the study of CFIDS by our national public health
agencies, specifically:

* Reauthorization of the National Institutes of Health to continue its
critical support for CFIDS research;

* Direction to the Social Security Administration to identify and correct
barriers to disability benefits that exist for persons with CFIDS;

* An increase of $10 million at the National Institutes of Health, most of
which would be directed to extramural grants focused on promising areas of
biomedical research into CFIDS; and

* An increase of $5 million at the Centers for Disease Control to expand
surveillance projects concerning CFIDS.
http://www.fmaware.org/site/PageServer?pagename=research_abstractsBasicScience#trauma