The United States Congress just passed the Ensuring Access to Clinical Trials Act (EACT) and permanently lifted a barrier to clinical research. This is a great day for the CF community and the news could not have come at a better time. With more clinical trials underway this year than ever before, it is critically important that as many people as possible can participate in research.
Five years ago, the community came together in support of the original Improving Access to Clinical Trials Act, and it is so exciting to see us take this effort across the finish line today. CF advocates, people with CF, families, doctors, siblings, caregivers, loved ones, friends and volunteers helped to demolish a road block for clinical trial participants. One more hurdle is behind us for good.
Our success is no small accomplishment, and we didn't get here by luck or good fortune. We achieved this goal together because this community is passionate, impactful and highly effective. We are a force to be reckoned with!
EACT's passage is the result of your hard work. You wrote, you called, you emailed and you visited your elected officials. Again and again. You told them that together we have come a long way in the fight against CF, but we're not done yet. There is work left to do, both in advancing the clinical research this law protects and on so many other fronts.
Advocacy's job is telling our elected officials and key decision makers that CF is one of the best stories in medicine today. In addition to adding decades of life and giving hope to tens of thousands, this is a story that provides a roadmap for hundreds of other diseases.
But we must also be sure to tell them that this story is nowhere close to finished, and we need all hands on deck. A few words of support or a single vote can propel us miles up the path toward our ultimate goal.
Let's celebrate this milestone in the history of cystic fibrosis and the groundwork we are laying for those with CF and so many others. The history of CF is far from over, but it's one that we are writing together every day. Congratulations, and most important, thank you for all that you do.