[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 620 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 620

 Designating the week of September 14-20, 2008, as National Polycystic 
     Kidney Disease Awareness Week, to raise public awareness and 
understanding of polycystic kidney disease, and to foster understanding 
  of the impact polycystic kidney disease has on patients and future 
                     generations of their families.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 23, 2008

     Mr. Kohl (for himself and Mr. Hatch) submitted the following 
    resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Designating the week of September 14-20, 2008, as National Polycystic 
     Kidney Disease Awareness Week, to raise public awareness and 
understanding of polycystic kidney disease, and to foster understanding 
  of the impact polycystic kidney disease has on patients and future 
                     generations of their families.

Whereas polycystic kidney disease (known as ``PKD''), one of the most prevalent 
        life-threatening genetic diseases in the United States, is a severe, 
        dominantly inherited disease that has a devastating impact, in both 
        human and economic terms, on people of all ages, and affects equally 
        people of all races, sexes, nationalities, geographic locations, and 
        income levels;
Whereas this devastating disease comes in 2 hereditary forms, with autosomal 
        dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) affecting 1 in 500 worldwide, 
        including 600,000 PKD patients in the United States, according to 
        prevalence estimates by the National Institutes of Health;
Whereas families in which 1 or both parents have ADPKD have a 50 percent chance 
        of passing the disease on to each of their children;
Whereas autosomal recessive polycystic kidney disease (ARPKD), a rarer form of 
        PKD, affects 1 in 20,000 live births and too often leads to death early 
        in life;
Whereas parents who carry the gene for ARPKD pass on the disease to 25 percent 
        of the children the parents conceive;
Whereas, in addition to patients directly affected by PKD, countless friends, 
        loved ones, family members, colleagues, and caregivers must shoulder the 
        physical, emotional, and financial burdens that polycystic kidney 
        disease causes;
Whereas polycystic kidney disease, for which there is no treatment or cure, is 
        the leading genetic cause of kidney failure in the United States and the 
        fourth leading cause overall;
Whereas the vast majority of polycystic kidney disease patients reach kidney 
        failure at an average age of 53, causing a severe strain on dialysis and 
        kidney transplantation resources and on the delivery of health care in 
        the United States, as the largest segment of the population of the 
        United States, the ``baby boomers'', continues to age;
Whereas end stage renal disease is one of the fastest growing components of the 
        Medicare budget, and polycystic kidney disease contributes to that cost 
        by an estimated $2,000,000,000 annually for dialysis, kidney 
        transplantation, and related therapies;
Whereas polycystic kidney disease is a systemic disease that causes damage to 
        the kidney and the cardiovascular, endocrine, hepatic, and 
        gastrointestinal organ systems and instills in patients a fear of an 
        unknown future with a life-threatening genetic disease and apprehension 
        over possible genetic discrimination;
Whereas the severity of the symptoms of polycystic kidney disease and the 
        limited public awareness of the disease cause many patients to live in 
        denial and forego regular visits to their physicians or to avoid 
        following good health management which would help avoid more severe 
        complications when kidney failure occurs;
Whereas people who have chronic, life-threatening diseases like polycystic 
        kidney disease have a predisposition to depression and the resulting 
        consequences of depression due to their anxiety over pain, suffering, 
        and premature death;
Whereas the Senate and taxpayers of the United States desire to see treatments 
        and cures for disease and would like to see results from investments in 
        research conducted by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and from 
        such initiatives as the NIH Roadmap to the Future;
Whereas polycystic kidney disease is a verifiable example of how collaboration, 
        technological innovation, scientific momentum, and public-private 
        partnerships can generate therapeutic interventions that directly 
        benefit polycystic kidney disease sufferers, save billions of Federal 
        dollars under Medicare, Medicaid, and other programs for dialysis, 
        kidney transplants, immunosuppressant drugs, and related therapies, and 
        make available several thousand openings on the kidney transplant 
        waiting list;
Whereas improvements in diagnostic technology and the expansion of scientific 
        knowledge about polycystic kidney disease have led to the discovery of 
        the 3 primary genes that cause polycystic kidney disease and the 3 
        primary protein products of the genes and to the understanding of cell 
        structures and signaling pathways that cause cyst growth that has 
        produced multiple polycystic kidney disease clinical drug trials;
Whereas there are thousands of volunteers nationwide who are dedicated to 
        expanding essential research, fostering public awareness and 
        understanding of polycystic kidney disease, educating polycystic kidney 
        disease patients and their families about the disease to improve their 
        treatment and care, providing appropriate moral support, and encouraging 
        people to become organ donors; and
Whereas these volunteers engage in an annual national awareness event held 
        during the third week of September, and such a week would be an 
        appropriate time to recognize National Polycystic Kidney Disease 
        Awareness Week: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) designates the week of September 14-20, 2008, as 
        ``National Polycystic Kidney Disease Awareness Week'';
            (2) supports the goals and ideals of a national week to 
        raise public awareness and understanding of polycystic kidney 
        disease;
            (3) recognizes the need for additional research into a cure 
        for polycystic kidney disease; and
            (4) encourages the people of the United States and 
        interested groups to support National Polycystic Kidney Disease 
        Awareness Week through appropriate ceremonies and activities, 
        to promote public awareness of polycystic kidney disease, and 
        to foster understanding of the impact of the disease on 
        patients and their families.
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