As autoimmune disease affects nearly every American family, the National Alliance for Autoimmune Awareness (NAAA) seeks to educate the general public, as well as the medical and scientific community, through a national campaign entitled, Autoimmunity and You: What Every American Needs to Know. The announcement was made here at the NAAA’s first national conference of the same name.

  According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), there are 23.5 million Americans who suffer from autoimmune disease. However, there are likely millions more who have not been diagnosed. Every year that a person remains undiagnosed and untreated, they are at an increased risk for organ damage and premature death. Collectively, autoimmune disease is one of the top 10 leading causes of death of children and women under 65 and represents some $100 billion in annual direct health care costs, yet less than six percent of Americans surveyed in a recent Roper poll could identify an autoimmune disease.

  Looking strictly at the numbers, autoimmune disease is right up there with cancer and heart disease as a major health issue in this country. Yet, we have the Roper survey and other key measures that clearly indicate that autoimmune disease is not receiving the recognition it deserves to the detriment of the health and quality of life of the tens of millions of Americans and their families who cope with these illnesses everyday,” said Virginia Ladd, president and executive director, AARDA. “It was this disconnect that led us to spearhead the National Alliance for Autoimmune Awareness.”

Goals for 2006   According to Ladd, the NAAA will build on the work of AARDA, the National Coalition of Autoimmune Patient Groups (NCAPG) and the NIH Autoimmune Disease Coordinating Committee (ADCC) and create an opportunity for collaboration among key stakeholders who have a vested interest in educating the public about autoimmune disease, diagnosis and treatment.

  She added, in its first year, the NAAA will work to establish bi-partisan Autoimmune Caucuses in both the House and the Senate, as well as host a series of public forums and scientific and medical symposiums in communities around the country.

  Committed Partners, Collaborators

Currently, NAAA partners include:

Johns Hopkins Autoimmune Research Center;

Irvington Institute for Immunological Research;

Society for Women’s Health Research;

American Osteopathic Association; and,

NCAPG, which is comprised of 26 national disease-specific patient groups.

  In addition, NAAA also has the committed participation and organizational support of government collaborators including:

National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases;

National Institutes of Health Office of Research on Women’s Health;

Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Women’s Health;

National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases;

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute;

National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences;

Center for Disease Control; and,

NIH ADCC.

About Autoimmune Disease and AARDA

  There are more than 80 known autoimmune diseases including multiple sclerosis, juvenile diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, scleroderma, lupus, Sjögren disease and Graves disease. Autoimmunity is the underlying cause of these diseases. It is the process whereby the immune system mistakenly recognizes the body own proteins as foreign invaders and begins producing antibodies that attack healthy cells and tissues, causing a variety of diseases. American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association (AARDA) is the nation only non-profit organization dedicated to bringing a national focus to autoimmunity as a category of disease and a major women health issue, and promoting a collaborative research effort in order to find better treatments and a cure for all autoimmune diseases.

  To learn more about the NAAA and/or participate in NAAA’s activities, please visit AARDA’s web site at www.aarda.org or call 586-776-3900. -

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