9/11 Responders and Clean Up Workers Call For Extension of the Zadroga Act

9/11 Responders and Doctors Say Programs Must Continue

Today, advocates for 9/11 responders and clean up workers released an emotional new video calling for the extension of the Zadroga Act. The Zadroga Act–which provides medical treatment and compensation for those who were exposed to high levels of dust and smoke in the aftermath of 9/11–is set to expire in October 2016. The group Citizens for the Extension of the James Zadroga Act is fighting for the extension of the Zadroga Act on behalf of thousands of 9/11 responders and survivors.

In the video, 9/11 responders and clean up workers talk about their life-threatening 9/11 related conditions: Stage IV renal cancer. COPD. Leukemia. The list goes on. Many 9/11 responders suffer from both 9/11 related cancers, such as thyroid cancer, and numerous 9/11 related conditions, like asthma or GERD.  The men and women in the video call on members of Congress not to let the Zadroga Act expire as thousands of workers and responders will go without much needed treatment and financial compensation if it does. As a doctor for the World Trade Center Health Program (established by the Zadroga Act) stated poignantly in the video: “Without this program, thousands upon thousands of people will be devastated financially, emotionally, physically, and mentally.”

Learn more about what happens if the Zadroga Act is not reauthorized here.