Government Advocacy

The PKD Foundation is the only organization, worldwide, working with the United States Congress, National Institutes of Health (NIH) and other federal agencies to fight for increased federal funding of PKD research.

In 2003, the NIH publicly reported spending $37 million on PKD research. By 2005, that number had decreased almost 32 percent to $25 million, before increasing to $32 million in 2006. In 2007, PKD research is expected to receive $32 million or $53 per person in federal funding. Other diseases, such as Huntington’s disease, which affects only 25,000 people, will receive $1,920 per person; Muscular Dystrophy, which affects 25,000, will receive $1,600 and so on.

Your support enables the PKD Foundation to lobby the federal government for increased federal funding, which may, someday, lead to a treatment and cure for PKD. The PKD Foundation holds advocacy events throughout the year to engage lawmakers and involve PKD patients and their families in grassroots advocacy efforts. Because of these efforts, the PKD Foundation has helped push through the U.S. House a bill to ban discrimination by employers and health insurers based on a person’s genetics. Other exciting accomplishments can be made with your help!

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