[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 432 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 432

     Supporting the goals and ideals of the Year of the Lung 2010.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 3, 2010

   Mrs. Lincoln (for herself and Mr. Crapo) submitted the following 
 resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Health, Education, 
                          Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
     Supporting the goals and ideals of the Year of the Lung 2010.

Whereas millions of people around the world struggle each year for life and 
        breath due to lung diseases, including tuberculosis, asthma, pneumonia, 
        influenza, lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), 
        pulmonary fibrosis, and more than 8,100,000 die each year;
Whereas lung diseases afflict people in every country and every socioeconomic 
        group, but take the heaviest toll on the poor, children, the elderly, 
        and the weak;
Whereas lung disease is a serious public health problem in the United States 
        that affects adults and children of every age and race;
Whereas lower respiratory diseases are the fourth leading cause of death in the 
        United States;
Whereas the economic cost of lung diseases is expected to be $177,000,000,000 in 
        2009, including $114,000,000,000 in direct health expenditures and 
        $64,000,000,000 in indirect morbidity and mortality costs;
Whereas nearly half of the world's population lives in or near areas with poor 
        air quality, which significantly increases the incidence of lung 
        diseases such as asthma and COPD, and more than 2,000,000 people die 
        prematurely due to indoor and outdoor air pollution;
Whereas tuberculosis, an airborne infection that attacks the lungs and other 
        major organs, is a leading global infectious disease;
Whereas no new drugs have been developed for tuberculosis in more than 5 decades 
        and the only vaccine is nearly a century old, yet there were 9,400,000 
        new cases in 2008, and this curable disease kills 1,800,000 each year;
Whereas an estimated 12,000,000 adults in the United States, are diagnosed with 
        COPD, and another 12,000,000 have the disease but don't know it;
Whereas COPD kills an estimated 126,000 people in the United States each year, 
        is currently the fourth leading cause of death in the Nation, is the 
        only one of the 4 major causes that is still increasing in prevalence, 
        and is expected to rise to become the third leading cause of death in 
        the United States;
Whereas lung cancer is the second most common cancer in the United States and 
        the most common cause of cancer deaths;
Whereas the leading cause of lung cancer is long-term exposure to tobacco smoke;
Whereas about 23,400,000 people in the United States have asthma, a prevalence 
        which has risen by over 150 percent since 1980;
Whereas asthma is the most common chronic disorder found in children, with 
        7,000,000 affected;
Whereas flu and pneumonia together are the eighth leading cause of death in the 
        United States;
Whereas about 190,000 people in the United States are affected by acute 
        respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) each year, a critical illness that 
        results in sudden respiratory system failure, which is fatal in up to 30 
        percent of cases;
Whereas about 75,000 people in the United States die as a result of acute lung 
        injury, a disease that can be triggered by infection, drowning, 
        traumatic accident, burn injuries, blood transfusions, and inhalation of 
        toxic substances, which kills approximately the same number of people 
        each year as die from breast cancer, colon cancer, and prostate cancer 
        combined;
Whereas of the 10 leading causes of infant mortality in the United States, 4 are 
        lung diseases or have a lung disease component;
Whereas pulmonary fibrosis (PF) is a relentlessly progressive, ultimately fatal 
        disease with a median survival rate of 2.8 years that has no life-saving 
        therapy or cure;
Whereas more than 120,000 people are living with PF in the United States, 48,000 
        are diagnosed with it each year, and as many as 40,000 die annually, the 
        same as die from breast cancer;
Whereas the cause of sarcoidosis, an inflammatory disease that occurs most often 
        in the lungs and has its highest incidence among young people aged 20 to 
        29, is unknown;
Whereas 15 years ago, people with pulmonary hypertension lived on average less 
        than 3 years after diagnosis;
Whereas new treatments have improved survival rates and quality of life for 
        those living with this condition, but it remains a severe and often 
        fatal illness;
Whereas Lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM), a rare lung disease that affects women 
        exclusively and is also associated with tuberous sclerosis, has no 
        treatment protocol or cure and is often misdiagnosed as asthma or 
        emphysema;
Whereas Hermansky-Pudlak Syndrome, a genetic metabolic disorder which causes 
        albinism, visual impairment, and serious bleeding due to platelet 
        dysfunction, has no cure and no standard of treatment;
Whereas children's interstitial lung disease, a group of rare lung diseases, has 
        many different forms, including surfactant protein deficiency, chronic 
        bronchiolitis, and connective tissue lung disease, and is thus difficult 
        to diagnose and treat;
Whereas the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 50,000,000 
        to 70,000,000 adults in the United States suffer from disorders of sleep 
        and wakefulness;
Whereas insufficient sleep is associated with a number of chronic diseases and 
        conditions, including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity, and 
        depression;
Whereas the average cost of treating severe COPD is 5 times higher than treating 
        mild COPD;
Whereas the appropriate medication and disease management of asthma can reduce 
        health care costs, including hospitalization, emergency room visits, and 
        physician visits, by half;
Whereas the flu vaccine can prevent 60 percent of hospitalizations and 80 
        percent of deaths from flu-related complications among the elderly;
Whereas advances in medical research have significantly improved the capacity to 
        fight lung disease by providing greater knowledge about its causes, 
        innovative diagnostic tools to detect the disease, and new and improved 
        treatments that help people survive and recover from this disease;
Whereas there is no cure for major lung diseases including asthma, COPD, and 
        lung cancer;
Whereas chronic lung diseases are a leading cause of death and yet the quality 
        of palliative and end-of-life care for patients with chronic lung 
        disease is significantly worse than patients with other terminal 
        illnesses;
Whereas the National Institutes of Health, through its many institutes and 
        centers, through basic, clinical, and translational research, plays a 
        pivotal role in advancing the prevention, detection, treatment, and cure 
        of lung disease;
Whereas the Department of Veterans Affairs is actively engaged in research in 
        respiratory diseases that impact the Nation's veterans;
Whereas the Environmental Protection Agency establishes air quality standard and 
        enforcement programs to ensure the quality of the air we breathe;
Whereas the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, provides essential 
        health insurance benefits for millions of patients with respiratory 
        disorders;
Whereas the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, through its many centers 
        and programs, provides valuable prevention and surveillance programs on 
        diseases of the lung;
Whereas an international collaboration of medical professional and scientific 
        societies is working to enhance the general public's understanding of 
        respiratory diseases, their causes, prevention, treatment, and impact 
        respiratory disease play in human health; and
Whereas the initiative, The Year of the Lung, seeks to raise awareness about 
        lung health among the public, initiate action in communities worldwide, 
        and advocate for resources to combat lung disease including resources 
        for research and research training programs worldwide: Now, therefore, 
        be it
    Resolved, That the Senate supports the goals and ideals of the Year 
of the Lung.
                                 <all>