Tift Regional Health System employee advocates for pain research

TIFTON — A staff member with Tift Regional Health System was sponsored by the American Migraine Foundation to advocate on Capitol Hill for pain research.

Carly Kilby, an office specialist with Allure Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, was sponsored by the foundation to attend the 11th annual “Headache on the Hill” conference in Washington, D.C., organized by the Alliance for Headache Disorders Advocacy.

Kilby was one of more than 200 people from 42 states to meet with lawmakers. The goal was to advocate for a bipartisan bill introduced in both the U.S. Senate and House of Representative as the Opioids and Stop Pain Initiative Act. Participants of “Headache on the Hill” included patients, family members, providers and scientists.

“This bill will help the 30 percent of the U.S. population living with chronic pain,” Kilby said. “The bill will give the National Institute of Health five billion dollars to fund disability research on back pain, neck pain and migraines. It will cover research for non-addictive pain treatment, non-pharmaceutical therapy and research to understand pain.

“Migraines and chronic pain are productivity and economic issues. It is estimated that this bill will add $1.1 trillion to our economy by helping to minimize health care costs, loss of wages and disability claims.”

Kilby is an active member of the American Migraine Foundation’s Move against Migraines communications program. She was also one of five women featured in a recent www.health.com article titled “Women with Migraines,” which described the challenges women face when they have a migraine headache.