Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of my bill H.R. 5986, the Neglected Infections of Impoverished Americans Act of 2010. This bill would require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to report to Congress on the epidemiology of, impact of, and appropriate funding required to address neglected diseases of poverty, including neglected parasitic diseases such as Chagas disease, cysticercosis, toxocariasis, toxoplasmosis, trichomoniasis, the soil- transmitted helminths, and other related diseases. The bill requires the report to provide the information necessary to guide future health policy to accurately evaluate the current state of knowledge concerning these diseases and define gaps in such knowledge and address the threat of these diseases. Mr. Speaker, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), neglected infections of poverty are a group of parasitic, bacterial, and viral infections that disproportionately affect impoverished groups, cause illness in a significant number of people, and receive limited attention in tracking, prevention, and treatment. A CDC fact sheet on Neglected Infections of Poverty states that improved tracking and research would help combat these diseases. Neglected infections of poverty are associated with communities with contaminated playgrounds or other public spaces and lack of access to the health care system.…”