Coalition for Health Funding: Letter to Secretary Thompson on FY 2002 Budget



Home Members Board of Directors Testimony Correspondence Public Health Continuum Public Health 101: The leading Challenges for the U.S. in the Coming Decade	Correspondence Letter to Secretary Thompson on FY 2002 Budget February 23, 2001 The Honorable Tommy G. Thompson Secretary U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 615F Hubert H. Humphrey Building 200 Independence Avenue, S.W. Washington, D.C. 20201 Dear Mr. Secretary: The Coalition for Health Funding, and its undersigned member organizations, welcome your leadership of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and look forward to working with you to achieve our mutual interests in protecting and promoting the health of the American people. As you work to construct this first budget of the Bush Administration, the Coalition recognizes that many specific interests of the agencies within the U.S. Public Health Service must be balanced against a need to control domestic spending. But as you weigh these difficult considerations, the Coalition urges you to consider the continuing and new challenges of the 21st century that require support for a continuum of public health activity that encompasses not only biomedical research, but also behavioral and health services research, community based prevention strategies, health care services for medically underserved populations, and health professions training. Some of the specific challenges we face include: eliminating growing antimicrobial resistance to drugs designed to treat common infections ensuring access for all Americans to needed health care services eliminating health disparities ensuring a safe food supply and safe and effective drugs and medical devices ensuring children, and adults, are vaccinated against preventable diseases preparing for a bioterrorist attack providing an appropriately trained health and public health workforce and in adequate numbers to address the breadth of need preventing, or treating early, chronic diseases like heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and cancer preventing, or treating early, infectious diseases like HIV/AIDS, and Hepatitis C preventing birth defects and developmental disabilities as well as helping those who have disabilities preventing and effectively treating serious mental disorders and substance abuse Each of these challenges requires enhanced support for the activities of many, and often all of the agencies of the U.S. Public Health Service, as well as state and local agencies. Sustaining the continuum of these activities will be critical if we are to achieve our shared goal of improving the health and well-being of all Americans. The Coalition for Health Funding is a nonprofit alliance of forty national voluntary and professional associations comprising approximately 40 million health care professionals, lay volunteers, patients and families. The Coalition works in a nonpartisan fashion to ensure that discretionary health spending remains highly visible as Congress and the Administration set federal budget priorities. Founded in 1970, the Coalition is the oldest and most broadly based health coalitions focused on the budget and appropriations process for discretionary programs. Sincerely, AIDS Action Council Ambulatory Pediatric Association American Academy of Pediatrics American Academy of Physician Assistants American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry American Association for University Affiliated Programs for Persons with Developmental Disabilities American College of Cardiology American College of Clinical Pharmacy American College of Preventive Medicine American Dental Association American Dental Education Association American Heart Association American Lung Association American Nurses Association American Optometric Association American Pediatric Society American Psychological Association American Psychological Society American Public Health Association American Society for Microbiology Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs Association of Medical School Pediatric Department Chairs Association of Schools of Public Health Association of State and Territorial Health Officials Association of Teachers of Preventive Medicine Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses Society for Adolescent Medicine Society for Pediatric Research Association of American Medical Colleges March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation National Association of Community Health Centers National Association of County and City Health Officials National Mental Health Association Planned Parenthood Federation of America Society for Neuroscience
©2008 Coalition for Health Funding

Correspondence

Letter to Secretary Thompson on FY 2002 Budget