August 25, 2014
Bipartisan effort to speed medical cures comes to Ohio: Rep. Bob Latta and Rep. Bill Johnson
What steps can we take to accelerate the pace of cures and treatments to keep America at the forefront of health innovation? That's the question that we have been asking over the past several months in the Energy and Commerce Committee's bipartisan 21st Century Cures initiative.
The rise of personalized medicine, the mapping of the human genome, and the incredible advances we have made in communications and technology hold great promise for accelerating the pace of cures, and these advancements are desperately needed — of the 7,000 known diseases, there are cures andtreatments for just 500 of them. Our goal is to ensure that we, as a country, are encouraging more innovation in health care, not standing in the way of what science and technology are capable of today.
Through a series of roundtables, white papers, and hearings, we have heard from experts in research, health care, innovation, and patients themselves about the cycle of cures today and discussed opportunities to improve that cycle.
The cycle of cures begins with the discovery of clues in basic science. Next is the drug and device development process. Finally, there is the treatment delivery phase. Each of these steps must influence the next. Fromdiscovery to development, the mapping of the human genome has paved the way for more personalized, targeted cures and treatments. The development phase is arguably the core of this process, taking what we have learned and translating it into a cure or treatment that can be brought to the delivery phase. We must then take what we learn in the delivery phase and transfer it back to discovery, ensuring that we are constantly learning and improving.
Communication is a fundamental component of 21st Century Cures. Patients, researchers, and medical professionals need to be communicating with one another throughout this process. For example, nobodyknows better how a treatment is working than patients and their doctors. Researchers should learn from them and allow that knowledge to benefit the discovery and development phases of the cycle. Just as science has made tremendous strides, so has communication technology. We need to encourage its use to improve the cycle of cures.
This has been a truly unique initiative in Washington — a place not always known for taking a new approach. We started this initiative by just asking questions and bringing everyone together at one table, and we are excited to be continuing that conversation back here in Ohio at the Research Institute atNationwide Children's Hospital, in Columbus, on Wednesday.
21st Century Cures truly touches every American, whether as patients, loved ones, caregivers, researchers, or innovators. We are all affected and we can all work together to make a difference.
The Energy and Commerce Committee has had tremendous bipartisan success when it comes to public health. 21st Century Cures seeks to take that success to a new level, providing hope for families and patients here in Ohio and across the country.
Read the column online here.
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