Advocacy - Lab Advocate
AACC joined with the March of Dimes and 66 other organizations in writing House and Senate leaders urging Congress to provide additional funding to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to aid in its efforts to prevent the spread of the Zika virus. Supplemental federal spending would be used to improve the agency’s readiness and response capacity as well as expand its at-risk testing and surveillance activities. There are currently more than 800 confirmed Zika cases in the United States and this number is expected to grow.
In response to an initial Administration request of $1.9 billion in additional funding, Congress urged the Administration to repurpose some of the unused money set aside for battling the Ebola virus. The Administration agreed, shifting more than $600 million in Ebola funds to fight the spread of the Zika virus. House and Senate leaders are now working on a supplemental package in the range of $1 billion to address this new public health initiative, in which the laboratory community plays a central role.