HR0703 LRB095 13609 KBJ 39307 r

1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, More than 11 million Americans currently suffer
3 from food allergies; from 1997 to 2002, the number of children
4 with food allergies doubled; and
 
5     WHEREAS, Food allergies kill as many as 200 Americans and
6 send 30,000 people to emergency rooms each year; and
 
7     WHEREAS, For some children, even a small drop of milk left
8 on a shopping cart from another child's snack can trigger
9 life-threatening anaphylaxis; and
 
10     WHEREAS, The average school has 10 children suffering from
11 severe food allergies; the most common allergens include
12 peanuts, eggs, milk, fish, and wheat, which are nearly
13 impossible to avoid completely at schools; and
 
14     WHEREAS, Scientists believe that a cure can be found for
15 most allergies by using existing science that has been
16 developed to treat asthma, airborne allergens, and venom from
17 bee stings, and they believe that a cure could be found within
18 a decade; and
 
19     WHEREAS, Severe food allergies disqualify individuals from
20 military service eligibility; the growing incidence of food

 

 

HR0703 - 2 - LRB095 13609 KBJ 39307 r

1 allergies could significantly decrease the pool of qualified
2 candidates to serve in our armed forces; and
 
3     WHEREAS, Only $10 million is spent annually for allergy
4 research by the National Institutes of Health, while research
5 for attention deficit disorder gets $107 million a year and
6 research for diabetes gets $1.2 billion a year; therefore, be
7 it
 
8     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
9 NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
10 that the United States Congress should increase funding to the
11 National Institutes of Health for research to discover a cure
12 for food allergies to benefit individuals and society as a
13 whole; and be it further
 
14     RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
15 delivered to each member of the Illinois Congressional
16 delegation.