Durbin, Duckworth Announce $52 Million In Public Health Grants For Illinois

Durbin, Duckworth Announce $52 Million In Public Health Grants For Illinois

CHICAGO - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today announced a total of $52,175,652 in Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) public health grants for the Illinois Department of Public Health and the City of Chicago. Primarily sourced from the federal Public Health Emergency Preparedness (PHEP) Program, this funding will assist state and local governments in effectively preparing for or responding to public health threats including infectious diseases and natural disasters. Other awards are for cancer and heart disease prevention, tuberculosis monitoring, and for immunization-related activities.

"Whether responding to emerging viral threats like Ebola or RSV, preventing violence and opioid overdoses, or ensuring effective emergency response to natural disasters, public health departments in Illinois play a vital role in protecting communities across the state," Durbin said. "The funding announced today will give our public health departments the resources they need to navigate future public health challenges and continue to preserve the well-being of our community."

"Investing in our public health departments is essential to keeping Illinois communities healthy, prepared and resilient,"Duckworth said. "This federal funding will help our public health organizations protect families, respond to emergencies and prepare for future outbreaks and natural disasters while ensuring local leaders have the resources they need to help keep Illinoisans safe."

The Illinois Department of Public Health will receive $36,453,082 in grant funding while the City of Chicago will receive $15,722,570.

Durbin has long been a strong advocate for robust medical and public health research. His legislation, the American Cures Act, would provide annual budget increases of five percent plus inflation at America's top four biomedical research agencies: the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Department of Defense Health Program, and the Veterans Medical and Prosthetics Research Program. Thanks to Durbin's efforts to increase medical research funding, Congress has provided NIH with a 60 percent funding increase over the past decade. Since Fiscal Year 2015 (FY15), because of Durbin's efforts, Congress has provided NIH with a 60 percent increase in annual funding, raising the appropriations level from $30 billion in FY15 to $49 billion today.

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