Why the Issue Matters

The AUA is committed to increasing awareness among elected officials and the general public on bladder health conditions. Bladder health issues impose a massive human and economic toll on Americans. However, there remains a social stigma and uneasiness when discussing these issues as many patients believe that there is no medical solution to bladder conditions, or they feel too uncomfortable to bring these issues to the attention of their physicians.

Fast Facts

Related Infographic: How Bladder Health Impacts Americans [pdf]

What the AUA is Doing

In 2016, the AUA, in collaboration with the Urology Care Foundation and Bladder Health Alliance, worked to proclaim November as Bladder Health Month in the United States. This effort is the result of years of successful advocacy aimed at improving the lives of patients suffering from bladder health conditions.

The AUA also has aggressively advocated to address chronic underfunding in bladder cancer research. In 2015, the AUA successfully added language to the Fiscal Year 2016 Department of Defense (DoD) Appropriations Act, which listed bladder cancer as an eligible disease to compete for federal research dollars in the DoD's Peer-Reviewed Cancer Research Program (PCRP). This marked the first time bladder cancer researchers were allowed to apply for specific military grants under this program during its 20+ year history. Currently, the AUA is advocating to transition bladder cancer from the PCRP into a separate $10 Million bladder cancer line within the DoD’s Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs.