IV 
109TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. CON. RES. 374 
Expressing the sense of the Congress that a National Dysphagia Awareness 
Month should be established. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 30, 2006 
Mr. WAMP submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred 
to the Committee on Government Reform 
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 
Expressing the sense of the Congress that a National 
Dysphagia Awareness Month should be established. 
Whereas dysphagia, or difficulty with swallowing, is a medical 
dysfunction that affects as many as 15 million Ameri-
cans; 
Whereas the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has 
estimated that one million people in the United States 
annually are diagnosed with dysphagia; 
Whereas the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has 
estimated that 60,000 Americans die annually from com-
plications associated with dysphagia; 
Whereas based on the Centers for Disease Control and Pre-
vention mortality data, this is more than the total num-
ber of Americans dying from all forms of liver disease, 
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•HCON 374 IH 
kidney disease, and HIV–AIDS combined—and nearly as 
many as died from diabetes, the number 6 killer of Amer-
icans; 
Whereas the most common complication arising from dys-
phagia is aspiration pneumonia—caused by food or saliva 
entering the windpipe and into the lungs; 
Whereas one in 17 people will develop some form of dys-
phagia in their lifetime, including 50 to 75 percent of 
stroke patients and 60 to 75 percent of patients who un-
dergo radiation therapy for head and neck cancer; 
Whereas as many as half of all Americans over 60 will experi-
ence dysphagia at some point; 
Whereas complications due to dysphagia increase health care 
costs by resultant hospital readmissions, emergency room 
visits, extended hospital stays, the necessity for long-term 
institutional care, and the need for expensive respiratory 
and nutritional support; 
Whereas the cost of managing a patient with a feeding tube, 
which for many has been the primary treatment option 
for this condition, is reported to average over $31,000 
per patient per year; 
Whereas the total annual cost to Medicare just for enteral 
feeding supplies for outpatients was more than $670 mil-
lion in 2003, nearly 6 percent of the total Medicare budg-
et for that year; 
Whereas, including the monies spent in hospitals, the total 
cost of dysphagia to the health care system is well over 
$1 billion annually; 
Whereas the condition of dysphagia is a vastly underreported 
condition and not widely understood by the general pub-
lic; and 
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•HCON 374 IH 
Whereas observing February 2007 as National Dysphagia 
Awareness Month would raise public awareness about 
dysphagia and the need for early detection and treat-
ment: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
concurring), That it is the sense of the Congress that a 
National Dysphagia Awareness Month should be estab-
lished. 
Æ 
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