U.S Senators Chris Murphy (D-CT), Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA ) and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) have introduced legislation to reauthorize CDC’s National Neurological Conditions Surveillance System (NNCSS) program.
The bill would protect privacy protected data on neurological conditions and enable research to advance better treatments and cures. The proposed legislation would reauthorize the NNCSS for five more years and increase funding to $10 million starting in FY23 and up to $20 million by FY26.
Reauthorization would allow the program to complete their current work on Multiple (MS) and Parkinson’s and then expand to other neurological conditions.
The proposed legislation would also provide 1) An Implementation Report to Congress to include information on the development and maintenance of the NNCSS, 2) Information collected by the surveillance system, use, and availability of such information, 3) The use and coordination of data sources to collect or maintain information on neurological diseases, and 4) Information on any upcoming expansions of the NNCSS to collect information on any additional neurological diseases.
Senator Murphy said, “The NNCSS is a critical program that helps us to better understand neurological conditions like MS and Parkinson’s in order to better understand the impact on more than a million Americans and their families. This research is key to developing more effective treatments, and ultimately to finding a cure for these horrific diseases.”
Go to https://cdc.gov/surveillance/neurology/index.html for more information on NNCSS.