The campaign mission, as described in the Congressional Appropriations Labor HHS Sub-Committee report, is to Òeducate physicians, health professionals, parents, and the general public concerning early diagnosis and effective treatment of primary immunodeficienciesÓ.

According to Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., Director NIAID, ÒPrimary immunodeficiency has often been considered rare, even by skilled physicians. But the fact is that there are more than 70 forms of this condition and it affects approximately 500,000 individuals in the U.S., mostly children, who suffer with serious, recurring, and often life threatening infections.Ó

Call to Action

Fred and Vicki Modell, co-founders of the Jeffrey Modell Foundation, credit Congressional leaders for inspiring the nation's medical leaders to pool their collective expertise to raise the profile of one of the country's most under recognized and misdiagnosed illnesses.

"We owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Health, particularly to Chairman John Porter (R-IL) and to Representative Nita Lowey (D-NY), both of whom were instrumental in the formation of this extraordinary collaborative effort," said Fred Modell.

Rationale for Campaign

Although there are over 500,000 Americans diagnosed with primary immunodeficiency, there are an estimated additional 500,000 people who are either misdiagnosed or under diagnosed when it comes to explaining their recurring illnesses.

"One of the main reasons such widespread under-diagnosis exists is because there isn't a single constellation of disease symptoms that can easily alert physicians to a possible primary immunodeficiency problem," said the Director of NICHD, Duane Alexander, M.D. "In launching the public awareness campaign, our first mandate will be to educate health care providers and parents about the warning signs of the disease".