The Amputee Coalition is happy to announce the White House has recognized our organization as a Disability Stakeholder. This designation allows us to amplify our voice as the only national nonprofit organization dedicated to elevating the limb loss and limb difference community. It also enables us to learn key information and up-to-date guidance that we can share with you.
The following are new actions that the Biden Harris Administration have taken to ensure it fulfills its commitment to improving the lives of individuals living with disabilities.
- Renewed effort to develop accessible home COVID -19 test. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx) Tech program has announced a renewed effort to seek both short- and long-term solutions for improving at-home test accessibility. RADx will be collaborating with key stakeholders such as NIH experts, national organizations who represent communities in need of accessible tests, and test manufacturers in modifying and developing of more accessible at-home tests. Read NIH’s press release.
- Formal request for all rapid test manufacturers to prioritize accessibility. The Department of Health and Human Services has issued a formal request for information (RFI) to ensure that domestic manufacturers are preserving and expanding capacities for over-the-counter rapid antigen and point-of-care COVID-19 tests. The RFI requests manufacturers to include an assessment of the accessibility of their tests. The assessment should include self-administration and result interpretation for individuals who are blind or visually impaired; individuals living with physical, cognitive, or other disabilities; and individuals who need non-English language or literacy support.
- Updated COVID-19 guidance. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reviewed the latest science and published an updated list of certain medical conditions that put people at higher risks of severe illness from COVID-19 to include individuals with disabilities. You can find the updated list on the CDC website. The CDC also released the agency’s “How to Interpret Positive Self-Test Results” guidance in American Sign Language (ASL). The release of this guidance is the first step to ensuring individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing can access essential information on how to protect themselves and their love ones using rapid self-test.
By Amanda Woodson, Government Relations Specialist