HR1442 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

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HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The month of November is designated as National Diabetes Awareness Month; and

WHEREAS, As many as 3 million Americans suffer from type 1 diabetes, a chronic, genetically-determined, debilitating disease affecting every organ system; and

WHEREAS, More than 15,000 children each year are diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, a disease caused by an autoimmune attack that destroys the insulin-producing beta cells of the pancreas; and

WHEREAS, 827,000 Illinoisans, 8.4% of the State's population, have been diagnosed with diabetes; diabetes costs the Illinois economy $7.3 billion annually; and

WHEREAS, Diabetes is one of the most costly chronic diseases, costing the United States economy more than $174 billion and costing individuals with diabetes an average of $13,000 in annual health care costs, compared to $2,600 for individuals without diabetes; and

WHEREAS, Insulin treats, but does not cure, this potentially deadly disease and does not prevent the complications of diabetes, which include blindness, heart attack, kidney failure, stroke, nerve damage, and amputations; and

WHEREAS, The National Institutes of Health has established 6 goal areas to guide type 1 diabetes research, focused on the reduction, prevention, and cure of type 1 diabetes and its complications; and

WHEREAS, The National Institutes of Health's research goals are to identify the genetic and environmental causes of type 1 diabetes, prevent or reverse type 1 diabetes, develop cell replacement therapy, prevent or reduce the occurrence of hypoglycemia in persons with type 1 diabetes, prevent or reduce the complications of type 1 diabetes, and attract new talent and apply new technologies to research on type 1 diabetes; and

WHEREAS, Federal funding has enabled research focused on determining the underlying genetic and environmental causes of diabetes and testing promising new treatments to halt and reverse the autoimmune attack that causes type 1 diabetes; and

WHEREAS, A cure for type 1 diabetes will require restoring beta cell function, either by replacement with transplantation or by beta cell regeneration; and

WHEREAS, The development of a 'closed-loop' artificial pancreas would greatly alleviate the daily burden of disease management for type 1 diabetes patients by continuously monitoring blood sugar levels, infusing insulin as necessary when blood glucose levels become too high, and warning patients when blood glucose levels become dangerously low; and

WHEREAS, Continued progress toward a cure for type 1 diabetes depends on training the next generation of diabetes researchers; and

WHEREAS, Congress has provided $150 million annually through fiscal year 2011 for the Special Statutory Funding Program for Type 1 Diabetes Research; and

WHEREAS, The Special Statutory Funding Program for Type 1 Diabetes Research has provided nearly $16 million to Illinois institutions for type 1 diabetes research; and

WHEREAS, Leading type 1 diabetes researchers have recommended a total funding level of $4.1 billion for fiscal years 2009 through 2013 in order to meet the National Institutes of Health's type 1 research goals; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we urge Congress to renew the funding for the Special Statutory Funding Program for Type 1 Diabetes Research in 2010 for multiple years, so that a cure for type 1 diabetes and its complications can be found; and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be sent to each member of the Illinois Congressional delegation.