Help Needed From All Connecticut Residents on Bill #5747- introduced by Jason Bartlett (D-Danbury, Bethel, Redding) asks for the reinstatement of mandatory lab reporting of Lyme disease.
Dear Connecticut Residents,
The PUBLIC HEALTH COMMITTEE needs to hear from you! Take a few moments to act on this very important action!
Anyone who has friends or family from Windsor or Windsor Locks for Representative Peggy Sayers, or Bolton, Glastonbury,Manchester, and Marlborough for Senator Mary Ann Handley who would be willing to emaildirectly and ask them to allow this bill to be brought up for a vote, needsto call them now. They need to hear from their constituents!!
THANK YOU ALL for the emails and phone calls to support Bill # 5747. Contacting the Public Health Committee members is working. They are listening!!! But, there's one more hurdle.
The co-chairs of the committee must be convinced to bring #5747 up for a vote by THIS FRIDAY THE 23RD! Even though we know many members of the Public Health Committee are behind us, it is now in the hands of the co-chairs whether or not this comes to a vote.
MEMBERS OF THE PHC need to know that this bill is not scheduled for a vote. It is up to Senator Mary Ann Handley and Representative Peggy Sayers, co-chairs of the committee, to decide what gets voted upon; Bill #5747 has NOT been chosen. Voting starts this FRIDAY March 23!
It's time to let your representatives know that wewant LYME TO COUNT!!!!!
As of January 1, 2003 the CT Department of Public Health discontinued mandatory lab reporting in CT. There were 4631 cases of Lyme disease reported in CT in 2002, 1403 reported in the true story of this disease in Connecticut. .
Please continue to phone and email all Public HealthCommittee legislators to:
Request that Bill #5747 be brought up for a vote! EXTREMELY IMPORTANT! If your representative is on the PHC it is even more critical that they hear from you.
Tell them why this bill is so important:
~ Residents of Connecticut and the governing body need to know the true threat Lyme disease is to our state. Physicians will never take Lyme seriously if they are not given the true numbers. ~ The federal government relies on accurate statistics to determine risk of a disease and allocate research dollars. A federal bill has been introduced that would allocate 100 million dollars over five years for Lyme disease; we know it is the number of Lyme disease cases that will be looked at when allocating these dollars. ~ These numbers are also important to the general public to ensure they take prevention measures seriously. Misleading numbers imply Lyme disease is no longer a threat; we know this is not true. ~ The Connecticut Department of Public Health has been negligent in protecting the citizens of CT against the threat of Lyme disease; it is time to demand this protection by mandating legislation . THE DPH IS RESPONSIBLE FOR TRACKING INFECTIOUS DISEASES THAT THREATEN CONNECTICUT CITIZEN’S WHETHER OR NOT A VACCINE TRIAL IS INVOLVED
Stillman, Andrea L. E Lyme, Montville, New London, Old Lyme, Old Saybrook, Salem, Waterford Member _Stillman@senatedemsStillma_ (mailto:[email protected])