Washington, D.C. – This week, Rep. Burgess Owens (UT-04) co-sponsored the National DIPG Awareness Resolution, which designates May 17, 2022 as DIPG Awareness Day. The legislation also expands research to discover the cure for Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG), abrain tumor that is highly aggressive and difficult to treat.
“Over 300 children across America suffer from this terrible illness each year, and it is heartbreaking,” said Rep. Owens. “I am proud to support the National DIPG Awareness Resolution, which will help us move the needle on finding the cure for DIPG and educating the American public about this chronic illness.”
DIPG is responsible for a significant portion of the annual childhood cancer death toll. Yet there has been no change in the standard treatment protocol or terminal prognosis since 1962. Roughly 2600 more children have been lost to DIPG alone since the first introduction of the resolution in 2016. The National DIPG Awareness Resolution is a unique opportunity to acknowledge the children, their families, and the valiant efforts of parents who continue to fund 95% of US pediatric brain cancer research after unspeakable loss. Awareness of the unmet medical needs of children encourages a less compromising process for legislation benefiting children’s treatments, access to clinical trials, and research into effective cures.
The full text of the resolution is available here.
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