NACDD is pleased to announce an innovative partnership with CDC and the Lupus Foundation of America to develop a National Public Health Agenda for Lupus, which will be responsive to a finding from the January 2012 Institute of Medicine Report, Living Well with Chronic Illness — A Call for Public Health Action, which recommended that “An aligned system with strong interface among public health, health care, and the community and non-healthcare sectors could produce better prevention and treatment outcomes for populations living with chronic conditions.”

The Agenda is the result of collaboration with over 45 representatives of national associations for lupus, public health, physicians, human services, community organizations, people with lupus and health insurers. Organized across the Four Domains of Chronic Disease Prevention, this document will provide a comprehensive public health approach to address lupus, which can supplement complementary efforts in lupus biomedical research and clinical care.

At a one and one-half day conference in March, the contributors to this Agenda formulated 20 recommendations and multiple strategic actions associated with each recommendation. Based on the facilitated large group discussion held on the second day of the conference, six key public health priorities emerged. The Agenda is currently being drafted and circulated for comment, and will be submitted to CDC for final approval in June.