The Senate and House Appropriate Committees have both recently passed bills increasing NIH (National Institute of Health) funding. The proposed funding for Alzheimer’s research is $662 million. This represents an increase which basically adjusts for inflation but falls well short of the $125 million increase I was in Washington D.C. lobbying for. Any increase in research dollars is a victory, regardless of how small.
Currently $644 million is earmarked for Alzheimer’s research. You can view earlier posts on this issue, but a quick reminder–NIH research dollars for all other big diseases (cancer, heart disease, AIDS) is in the 3 to 5 billion dollar range. Additionally, Congress is not expected to complete work on the bill with a shortened session and a veto promise from the White House.
The proposed $662 million will act as a placeholder until 2009 when discussions will resume. It’s detrimental to continue to keep this issue in the forefront. Contact your local representatives and encourage them to ensure Alzheimer’s research is a top priority for 2009.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008 at 4:00 pm and is filed under Alzheimer's Info, Public Policy Forum. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
