Georgia AIDS Coalition

I am a local public health officer and work every day on the front lines to avert a public health crisis. I am writing to ask for your support for an appropriation of $8,000,000 for an initiative by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to assist local public health departments.

It was local public health officials who detected Hepatitis A in tainted strawberries and swung into action to prevent an epidemic, and who intervened when the hantavirus struck in the Southwest. We deal with public health threats daily, such as meningitis outbreaks and bacterial contamination of drinking water and food.

Here in [your city], our health department… [give some examples of specific accomplishments in this paragraph].
The addition of $8,000,000 to the CDC appropriation will enable local public health departments to build essential capacity for communication and to receive technical assistance and training. I urge you to support this funding.

Thank you for your help.