CPF Organizing a Series of Educational Activities for the 2014 Pulmonary Fibrosis Awareness Month

PatrĂ­cia Silva, PhD avatar

by PatrĂ­cia Silva, PhD |

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Coalition for Pulmonary Fibrosis

Coalition for Pulmonary FibrosisHalf of it has already passed, but the 2014 Pulmonary Fibrosis Awareness Month in September continues forward, full of activities. Having been established by the Coalition for Pulmonary Fibrosis (CPF), this is the 12th year that the organization is using the month to raise awareness for the disease, in order to put pressure on Capitol Hill and nationwide to find a cure for the disease, as well as to recognize September as the official National Pulmonary Fibrosis Month.

“The goal of the month’s activities is to focus resources and efforts in order to make Pulmonary Fibrosis a nationally recognized, treatable and ultimately curable disease.   This annual program has vastly increased attention to the disease, and that attention has helped to bring us to this new day of potential treatments and expanded work to find a cure,” the CPF’s website explained.

The nationwide activities reach their highest point during the week of September 22nd, during which volunteers of the CPF will meet members of the Congress on the Capitol Hill. This year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will also host a public workshop for the PF community, with the purpose of discussing novel answers to idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), which can be attended by anyone in person or watched online, through a live webcast. In addition, the Johns Hopkins University Medical Center will also hold a partnered patient education day, in collaboration with the American Thoracic Society, taking place on September, 27th, one day after the FDA workshop.

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In addition, a volunteer group of women dedicated to raise awareness and funds to support the services provided to PF sufferers, “Daughters of PF,” is participating in PF Awareness Month through social networks, spreading alerts about it, as well as their own stories, advocating with their local governmental authorities to recognize the importance of the work with proclamations and attending Town Halls to bring the attention of their congressional leaders to PF.

Several other activities are taking place among the CPF members and programs, such as walks, dinners, or backyard barbecues, in order to spread the word and raise awareness around the country. The CPF is asking all of its members and interested people to campaign with them “in every way possible, from social networking to writing to your local newspaper’s health editor, there is a lot everyone can do to fight for a cure.”