Anne wrote:
> Does anyone know how to reach this group: Web, e-mail etc.? I would
like to know the names of those 70 representatives who are opposing
it...and how we can help this new group.
Anne et al,
The following has contact names at the end of the article. Also, I
think Barb Schirloff from PAN would be able to help. Unfortunately I
don't have the PAN email address, but I'm sure somebody has...
Judith
Company Press Release
SOURCE: Alliance for Aging Research
Patients Announce Coalition to Support Life-Saving Stem Cell Research;
National Poll Finds Overwhelming Support for Federal Funding
WASHINGTON, May 20, 1999/PRNewswire/ -- Citing a public opinion poll
showing three out of four Americans favor their position, a coalition of
leading patient groups formed today to raise awareness of the great hope
stem cell research holds for tens of millions of people.
Called the Patients' Coalition for Urgent Research (Patients' CURe), the
umbrella group includes major national organizations such as the
American Cancer Society, Juvenile Diabetes Foundation International,
Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation, Parkinson's Action Network,
Paralyzed Veterans of America, the National Health Council and the Spina
Bifida Association of America Foundation.
``I was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes at 13 months. Since then, I
have taken 16,500 injections of insulin just to survive,'' according to
fifteen-year-old Michelle Puczynski, a volunteer with the Juvenile
Diabetes Foundation International. Ms. Puczynski was among the featured
patients who spoke at a Capitol Hill press conference where Patients'
CURe kicked off a nationwide campaign about stem cell research. The
effort will underscore the hope the research represents for millions of
people and its potential for saving lives faster. The campaign will also
urge national lawmakers to throw their support behind stem cell research
and fund it through the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the medical
research arm of the federal government.
``I know that the only way my dream of a cure will be achieved is
through research,'' Ms. Puczynski adds. ``I hope that our government
will allow stem cell research to move forward.''
``The voice of patients in support of stem cell research is being heard
today,'' according to Daniel Perry, Patients' CURe chairman and
Executive Director of the Alliance for Aging Research, a Coalition
member. ``Public opinion is strongly on the side of patients as well.
It's because stem cell research offers tremendous promise to ease, if
not end, suffering and hardship for millions of people.''
A national survey conducted by Opinion Research Corporation
International earlier this month found that 74 percent of those polled
favor funding of stem cell research by NIH.
Recent reports in leading scientific journals indicate that stem cells
can be made to turn into many of the different types of cells in the
human body. They can also replicate themselves while remaining in an
undifferentiated state, thus providing a potentially unlimited source of
cells for medical and scientific purposes.
According to Patients' CURe chairman Perry, leading scientists,
including Nobel Laureates, indicate that Parkinson's disease, diabetes,
cancer, cardiovascular disease, and Alzheimer's disease are among the
major illnesses for which stem cell research could have very beneficial
applications.
CONTACT: Joe Cerquone of Alliance for Aging Research, 202-293-2856; or
Krista Donahue of Hill & Knowlton, 202-944-5108, for Alliance for Aging
Research.
Copyright © 1999 PRNewswire.
--
Judith Richards, London, Ontario, Canada
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