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Very exciting news about NATT. Please read below!

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SEPTEMBER 26, 2007

CDC AWARDS NATT FUNDING
TO IMPROVE BLOOD CLOT AWARENESS

TARRYTOWN, NY - The National Alliance for Thrombosis and Thrombophilia (NATT) today announced the award of two major program grants totaling $1.35 million that will serve as building blocks for its efforts to curb the unchecked devastating effects caused each year to nearly one million Americans who develop a blood clot.

NATT will use its two Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) grants to “launch a national wake-up call to promote public and healthcare professional awareness of this serious medical condition that each year kills nearly 300,000 Americans,” explains NATT President Randy Fenninger.

“We have a national crisis because few people recognize or understand the symptoms and risk factors of this silent killer. And even equally startling, is that not enough of our nation’s healthcare professionals have a full understanding of the symptoms and the methods for treatment of this life-threatening condition,” he said. Complications from clotting, occurring in more than half of those affected individuals, can often have serious consequences – as is evident from an annual mortality rate that is greater than the combined deaths from breast cancer, AIDS, and automobile accidents.

Mr. Fenninger complimented the proactive efforts of the CDC for recognizing the need to fund an all-out public and professional attack against blood clotting disorders. The awards, he notes, “serve to further support our national education and awareness work. This is a superb news for all Americans at risk for blood clots, and a very proud moment for the many volunteers who have worked so hard to move NATT from a board room dream to a now nationally respected community-based advocacy organization that does so much good.”

Aiding the CDC’s proactive funding efforts was a meeting held in May of 2006 by the U.S. Surgeon General who brought together national healthcare and public leaders to discuss the serious problems surrounding blood clots and clotting disorders. The general theme from this meeting is the publication of “Call-to-Action” this fall by the U.S. Surgeon General to improve education and awareness within the healthcare profession, as well as the general public.

These facts, combined with a serious lack of awareness among the public, constitute a significant public health problem that NATT has been battling since its inception in 2003. NATT Executive Director Alan Brownstein explained that a national initiative called “Stop-The-Clot,” will now be launched. The multi-tiered program, one of two receiving funding awards from the CDC, will focus its education and awareness efforts on such objectives as:
- Enhancement of NATT’s successful patient seminars into a nationally Stop-The-Clot Forum series
- Establishment of a comprehensive consumer Clotting Information Resource Center (CIRC; available via web and print mediums)
- Collaboration with the national Hemophilia Treatment Centers, the Thrombosis and Hemostasis Centers, and the Anticoagulation Forum network for distribution of education materials
- And the development of a regional chapter infrastructure.

The CDC also awarded funding for a nurses and non-physician healthcare professionals’ education project that will specifically address the areas of blood clot prevention, diagnosis, treatment and management. NATT’s Medical And Scientific Advisory Board (MASAB) Chairman Dr. Stephan Moll, director of the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill Thrombophilia Program, expressed his board’s delight regarding the CDC awards. “I commend the CDC on their efforts to respond to this extreme health issue in such a proactive manner through funding these programs instituted by NATT,” he said.

Dr. Moll noted that the healthcare professionals’ education project is deemed an essential element in the fight against blood clots. “Improving the content and delivery of health information/education by nurses and other non-physicians,” he said, “provides an educational and training aspect to a critical part of a patient’s healthcare and wellness.”

The program, Dr. Moll explained, will be delivered nationally through the utilization of evidence-based teaching methods in small group sessions led by trained faculty. The program’s ultimate goal is to prevent secondary conditions in people with clotting disorders by improving their access to knowledgeable healthcare providers.

NATT will collaborate with many organizations in its development of a 12-region training program. Patients will be reached throughout the U.S. network of the 140-federally funded Hemophilia Treatment Centers, the CDC Pilot Thrombophilia Centers and through participants of the Anticoagulation Forum.

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(For More Information regarding the National Alliance for Thrombosis and Thrombophilia and/or their national programs, please contact Alan Brownstein at (917) 209-2000, apbrownstein@msn.com, or NATT President Randy Fenninger (202) 833-007. or log on to http://www.nattinfo.org/. NATT is a 501c3 national volunteer community-based organization which welcomes support through involvement and/or donations. Further information can also be obtained from NATT’s Medical and Scientific Advisory Board chairman Dr. Stephan Moll, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill at (919) 966-3311 or smoll@med.unc.edu.)