CSL Behring Awards LEAD Grants to Support Patient Rights

CSL Behring has awarded three U.S. bleeding disorder patient organizations Local Empowerment for Advocacy Development (LEAD) grants to help them ensure patients’ voices continue to be heard in their state capitals on legislative and public policy issues. The grants were awarded to the Great Lakes Hemophilia Foundation (GLHF), which will revitalize its grassroots advocacy program and execute its plan to lobby Wisconsin’s state legislature; New York City Hemophilia Chapter (NYCHC), which will train members of the bleeding disorders community as regional advocacy captains, whose role will be to strengthen relationships and increase engagement with key local legislators; and Ohio Bleeding Disorders Council (OBDC), which will fund its 2017 Bleeding Disorders Advocacy Ambassadors program, which includes identifying engaged advocates around the state.

To qualify for LEAD grant support, a local group must be a recognized patient advocacy, nonprofit group with 501(c)(3) tax status representing individuals who use plasma/recombinant therapies to treat bleeding disorders, immune disorders, alpha-1 deficiency or other conditions. Qualifying organizations also must be currently addressing or intending to address a specific advocacy issue. “Our LEAD grant program is now in its ninth year, and the need for patient empowerment and advocacy has never been greater,” said Dennis Jackman, CSL Behring’s senior vice president for global healthcare policy and external affairs. “We believe our role goes beyond developing, manufacturing and delivering lifesaving medicines. We have an obligation to inform and impact public policy decisions to ensure all patients have access to the medicines and services they need.”