Advocacy - Lab Advocate
On February 10th, an ADLM-led coalition of 42 prominent healthcare organizations sent a letter to congressional appropriators urging Congress to allocate an additional $10 million to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC's) Environmental Health Laboratory for developing pediatric reference intervals (PRIs). PRIs are essential for accurately interpreting laboratory tests in children, ensuring proper diagnosis and care. Currently, the lack of reliable pediatric-specific intervals forces many laboratories to rely on adult ranges or intervals from sick children, leading to potential misdiagnoses and inappropriate treatments.
The CDC has proposed leveraging its existing National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) infrastructure to collect samples from healthy children and utilize its Environmental Health Laboratory to establish accurate reference intervals. The advocacy of ADLM and its partners have been instrumental in securing language in recent congressional appropriations reports directing the CDC to prioritize this initiative. Most recently, the House Appropriations Committee’s FY 2025 report explicitly directs the CDC to include funding in its FY 2026 budget request to develop improved pediatric reference intervals.
ADLM continues to lead advocacy efforts, highlighting the critical importance of this initiative in providing high-quality, equitable healthcare to children nationwide.