Autoimmune disease advocate speaks at Legislative Hall

Operation Shooting Star, an autoimmune disease advocacy organization, announced that Delaware has passed Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 12 recognizing November 2019 as Autoimmune Disease Awareness Month in Delaware.

During March, which is National Autoimmune Disease Awareness Month, Audrey Fisher Killen, founder and executive director of OSS, traveled to Dover to advocate for the state to raise awareness and make a difference. This action will help educate the public about autoimmune diseases and the need for research funding, accurate diagnosis and effective treatments.

“I am so proud of our state to join us in our mission to advocate for all of the autoimmune disease community,” Killen said. “Over 80 known diseases are connected by autoimmunity, yet most people remain unaware. Millions of people suffer in silence because they don’t know what they have, and many times while searching for answers, autoimmune disease isn’t even acknowledged or considered. This has to change.”

According to the National Institutes of Health, autoimmune diseases result from a dysfunction of the immune system. The immune system protects the body from disease and infection. However, it can sometimes produce autoantibodies that attack healthy cells, tissues and organs, and this can lead to autoimmune disease.

NIH estimates 24 million Americans have one or more autoimmune diseases. It is estimated that annual direct healthcare costs in the United States for autoimmune disease are in the range of $100 billion.

Operation Shooting Star’s mission is to raise awareness of autoimmunity, its diseases and the connection between them, and to propel success in research across so many individual diseases. Progress made in searching for a cure for one disease could mean progress for them all.

In addition to advocating for patients, caregivers and all those affected, Operation Shooting Star donates directly to autoimmune disease research.

Having been diagnosed in 2009 with multiple sclerosis, an autoimmune disease affecting the central nervous system, Killen has been committed to raising awareness of autoimmune diseases while supporting research efforts to find a cure.

Killen said, “This affects so many of us, and we are so much stronger if we work together. The fact that [Delaware legistators] agree by taking this first step and voting in this resolution gives me even more hope that we can make a difference, not only for our fellow Delawareans, but all across America.” 

For more information, go to www.operationshootingstar.org or call 302-524-8292.