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Hi Marco, Thanks for your response to my message regarding the establishment of a database for Parkinson's. I do recall the questionnaire that you refer to which was distributed a few years ago. I didn't participate in it myself, as I recall, for the same reasons you mention: that it would produce no meaningful results. While I do appreciate the good intentions of those who made the effort to circulate the questionnaire I do believe that if this is to be done and if it is to be done effectively, that it must be a major scale project conducted through one of the National agencies: NIH, CDC or EPA. We certainly have an abundance of agencies whose sole reason for existence is to address health issues: NIH, CDC, EPA, IOM, DHHS, PEW, etc, etc, etc. Could they do a more effective job with our tax dollars? Is there a lack of coordination between these agencies that is causing a redundancy in their work? Has anyone in any of those agencies entertained the idea of a database? These are my questions and in my attempts to find answers, here is what I've come up with to date. a) The Center for Disease Control in partnership with the Environmental Public Health Administration (EPA) and the National Aeronauticlal and Space Administration (NASA) has initiated a program called the "NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL PUBLIC HEALTH TRACKING NETWORK (EPHT). I will post to the List more information on this program at a later date. b) Representative Lane Evans of Illinois, who himself suffers from Parkinson's disease, introduced a bill (H.R. 3550) in July of '05 called the Udall Act Amendments which would work to strengthen the overall coordination and require more strategic planning of Parkinson's research funds at the NIH. It would also secure the existence and funding review process for the Udall Centers program. Finally (and this is most important) HR 3550 requires the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the NIH ...TO ADDRESS THE LACK OF INFORMATION WE HAVE ABOUT WHO HAS PARKINSON'S DISEASE AND WHY, WHICH WOULD AID IN BETTER TARGETING CRITICAL RESEARCH FUNDS. As of Aug 5, H. R. 3550 was referred to the House subcommittee on health. This is the latest information I have seen on the status of this bill. For now, this is all the information that I can offer in regard to a database for Parkinson's. I welcome input from others on the List with their thoughts of how we, as a group, can/should attempt to have an influence on this matter. Dee ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn