The Honorable
Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510

Dear Conferee :

The undersigned organizations representing health, child and family, and community advocates are writing to urge your support of $4.5 million for FY 2004 for the continued implementation of the National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS), an important injury and violence prevention initiative of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This amount of $4.5 million for NVDRS is currently contained in the Senate Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Bill for FY 2004. We greatly appreciate the Congress’ continuing support by providing funding for the implementation of NVDRS in more states.

Each year, there are approximately 50,000 violent deaths in the United States due to suicide and homicide, including child abuse and domestic violence.  Yet we lack information about the circumstances of such deaths that could guide prevention efforts.  The federally funded reporting system is currently enabling some states to collect uniform, detailed information about violent deaths – data that will ultimately help save lives.

President Bush called for continued funding for the NVDRS in his FY 2004 budget request, noting that "examples of CDC activities include support for …gathering data for the National Violent Death Reporting System, and helping States develop systems to collect surveillance data on child maltreatment and related injuries." Funding in FY 2004 and subsequent years will allow CDC to:

• Provide leadership and technical assistance to states;
• Build state capacity to collect and analyze data;
• Facilitate input from federal and state agencies, non-governmental organizations, and other experts;
• Establish strong partnerships among key agencies; and
• Research and address potential barriers to data collection.

Attached for your information is a Fact Sheet on the NVDRS’ progress in the first two years. Clearly, implementation of the system is a roadmap for prevention. Therefore, we urge you to support $4.5 million in FY 2004 to further develop and expand the National Violent Death Reporting System.

If you need any additional information or have any questions, please feel free to contact Barbara Allen at the Child Welfare League of America, 202/639-4924, or Don Hoppert at the American Public Health Association, 202/777-2742.

Sincerely,

American Academy of Pediatrics

American College of Physicians

American Public Health Association

Child Welfare League of America

Physicians for Social Responsibility

Prevent Child Abuse America

American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

American Association for the Surgery of Trauma

American College of Emergency Physicians

American College of Preventive Medicine

American College of Surgeons

American Medical Women’s Association

American Osteopathic Association

Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma

Emergency Nurses Association

LA County Department of Health Services, Injury and Violence Prevention Program

National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners

National Association of School Psychologists

National Hispanic Medical Association

National Medical Association

New York Academy of Medicine

Partnership for Prevention

Physicians for a Violence-free Society

Society of Critical Care Medicine

The Chicago Project for Violence Prevention

Violence Prevention Coalition of Greater LA