Your time to “do something” is now. Please, speak up for arthritis and all who live with it on a daily basis.

If we don’t act, Congress WILL cut arthritis research. No ifs, ands, or buts about it.

Congress plans to cut $1.2 trillion in federal spending by November 2011. If we do not tell Congress that we care about – and NEED! – arthritis research, then vital programs at the National Institutes of Health will be cut.

This cannot happen! After all, over 50 million (one in five) American adults and 300,000 children have a form of arthritis. All of us dream of a future free from arthritis pain…don’t you?  Yes, science is close – BUT we must continue to support the search for a cure…and that costs money!

Arthritis limits the daily activities of 21 million Americans and accounts for $128 billion annually in economic costs.  So please, ask your Members of Congress to support arthritis research and continue their ground-breaking Juvenile Arthritis initiative by funding the National Institutes of Health at $35 billion in FY 2012. According to the Arthritis Foundation, this the very minimum needed to sustain the current level of research and account for inflation.

Remember – public investment in biomedical research holds the real promise of improving the lives of millions of Americans with arthritis. “An investment in research is an investment in our nation’s future. ”

What can you do? Contact Congress. Make sure they keep arthritis funding off the chopping block! Write letters, send emails, make phone calls. Spread the word to others. And — please, sign this petition and share it with your friends, family, loved ones, and colleagues, as well as your Facebook & Twitter alliances. Let your rheumatologist know about the petition and see if he will post about it at his office. Make your voices be heard!

After all, if we don’t speak up for arthritis, who will?

http://www.arthritis.org/petition.php

Let’s Move Together!

Stay well,

Ashley Boynes-Shuck

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