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A Resolution of the County of Allegheny, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, urging the General Assembly and the United States Congress to push for additional funding for research to discover a cure for life-threatening food allergies.
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WHEREAS, more than 12 million Americans currently suffer from food allergies; and
WHEREAS, between 1997 and 2002, the number of children with food allergies doubled in the United States; and
WHEREAS, in the United States alone, food allergies kill as many as 200 people and send 30, 000 people to the emergency room each year; and
WHEREAS, the average school has 10 children suffering from severe food allergies; the most common allergens include peanuts, eggs, milk, fish, and wheat, which are nearly impossible to avoid completely at schools; and
WHEREAS, severe food allergies disqualify individuals from military service eligibility and as a result, the growing incidence of food allergies could significantly decrease the pool of qualified candidates to serve in our armed forces; and
WHEREAS, scientists believe that a cure can be found for most allergies by using existing science that has been developed to treat asthma, airborne allergens, and venom from bee stings, and they believe that a cure could be found within a decade; and
WHEREAS, Congress spends less than $10 million annually for allergy research while research for attention deficit disorder receives $107 million a year and research for diabetes receives $1.2 billion a year;
The Council of the County of Allegheny hereby resolves as follows:
Section 1.
Allegheny County Council urges the Pennsylvania General Assembly to push for additional funding to help cure life-threatening food allergies. It is further resolved, that Council urges the United States Congress to increase funding for research to discover a cure for life-threatening food allergies to benefit individuals and society as a whole.
Section 2. Severability. If any provision of this Resolution shall be determined to be unlawful, invalid, void or unenforceable, then that provision shall be considered severable from the remaining provisions of this Resolution which shall be in full force and effect.
Section 3. Repealer. Any resolution or ordinance or part thereof conflicting with the provisions of this Resolution is hereby repealed so far as the same affects this Resolution.