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Welcome to the HepatitisActivist.org
Instant Advocacy Initiative

"Where you can help fight liver disease by e-mailing Congress."

Our "Automated Congressional E–mailer (ACE) System " lets you get your voice heard in Washington in three simple steps:

1. Choose a subject from our list and copy the text (or write your own)
2. Put in your zip code to automatically find your representatives
3. Personalize and then send your message at the push of a button

Now You Can Easily Make a Significant Difference

By taking part in an ongoing advocacy initiative through this website you can help more than just yourself or a loved one. Your effort may also help everyone in the USA who has liver disease concerns.

As you may already know, liver disease research, education and other related issues are significantly under-funded in the United States.

A study presented at the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases meeting on Tuesday November 9, 1999 concluded that long-term damage from hepatitis C infections alone may cost the U.S. economy more than $81 billion by 2019.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control estimates that approximately 4 million people in this country are infected with hepatitis C. This is four times the number estimated for HIV/AIDS infection (and it doesn’t even include other liver diseases and conditions such as Hepatitis B and cirrhosis). Yet, comparatively, liver disease research and education gets a pittance in terms of government funding.

This is an important topic for our government to address and yet the odds are that it won't be taken seriously unless your voice, and the voice of many others, is heard.

In addition to the potential cost to our society, there are several other related issues you may want to bring to the attention of your congressional representatives. Below we have provided samples of topics you may want your representatives to address in congress.

Why You Should Write To Congress Now (And Also Tell Your Friends)

In the dictionary advocacy is defined as "the act or process of advocating or supporting a cause or proposal". Grass-roots advocacy is when concerned individuals like you attempt to influence policy through personal effort, usually by lobbying (or e-mailing) their representatives. It is a way you can make a positive difference in the world.

When enough people contact their representatives about an important issue, congress listens. They have to.Their jobs depend on it.

If even just 10% of the people with liver disease wrote to congress (and had 10 of their friends do the same) our representatives would be getting over 4 million messages telling them they need to do something about the issues involved!!!

This works much better when you write only to your specific representatives. They are too understaffed to be concerned about non-constituent desires.

he more they hear from their actual constituents, the people who might vote for them, the more likely it is they will respond with appropriate action. This is why our "ACE" system helps you automatically deliver your message directly to your own specific representatives.

And please be sure to customize or personalize your message, even if you choose to use one of our letter samples as a starting point.

How To Use Our Quick and Easy "ACE" system

You may begin using the "Automated Congressional E-Mailer" by deciding what issue(s) you want to address and what you want to say. If you know what you want to write, choose sample letter number 10 "Blank Page" from the list below.

You may send letters on as many issues as you want, as often as you want.

If you would rather not compose your own message from from beginning to end, simply choose a relevant letter sample from the same subject list below. You can use the sample letter "as is" or simply use the content as a starting point for your own letter.

Copy the content of the sample letter and then, in the "Write to Congress" box at the bottom of the same sample letter page, type in your zip code and click on the "Find My Reps" button. This will bring you to the e-mail page specifically for your representatives. (If you are unsure how to copy and paste text, click here.)

Check the boxes of the individual representative(s) you want your message to go to and then click on the "Compose E-Mail" button. Fill in your name, address, etc. at the top of the page.

You may then paste in the text you copied from the sample into the message box and customize it with some of your own words (which we highly recommend).

Finally, you will click on the "Send E-Mail" button to automatically forward your message directly to your representative(s).

Choose a Template:

Choose from the following message templates to send to your congressional representatives (click on the topic to view the related sample message).

Choose Your Topic(s) Here:

1. Increasing Government Research Funding for HCV and Other Liver Diseases
2. Increasing Government Funding for Public Education on HCV and Other Liver Diseases
3. National Transplant Program Improvement Initiatives
4. FDA Fast-track Approval for Promising HCV and Other Liver Disease Treatments
5. Increasing Government Liver Disease Funding for NIH, Complementary & Alternative Medicine
6. Social Security Reform for HCV and Other Liver Diseases
7. Medical Insurance Issues for HCV and Other Liver Disease Sufferers
8. U.S. Military Veteran Liver Disease Research and Compensation Issues
9. Disability Insurance Reform for HCV and Other Liver Disease Sufferers
10. Blank Page (For Your Custom Message)

If you have a topic or sample letter you would like us to consider for addition to this list please submit it to us at Advocacy@HepatitisActivist.org

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