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amfAR Says President's Budget Slights AIDS Research, Calls For FundsFor Studies Leading to Improved Treatment, Prevention

Posted on: Monday, 6 February 2006, 09:01 CST

NEW YORK, Feb. 6 /U.S. Newswire/ -- amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research, reacted strongly against President George W. Bush's proposed 2007 budget, which slashes AIDS research by $15 million.

amfAR, which supports research in HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment, urged Congress to adequately fund medical research through the National Institutes of Health (NIH) when it drafts its budget in the coming months.

"This budget has grave implications for scientific research to combat HIV and AIDS," said Judy Auerbach, amfAR vice president, public policy and program development. "Bluntly put, this level of funding means less scientific research will get done by fewer scientists, with fewer new minds entering the field."

Congress was wise in doubling the NIH budget between 1998 and 2003. During this time, the agency was able to support many new investigators while continuing to fund those multiyear studies to which it had committed in previous years. Since 2003 however, funding for the NIH -- including its AIDS research portfolio-has failed to keep up with the Biomedical Research and Development Price Index, damaging the success rate of approved grants that receive funding and leaving very little money to fund promising new research. Since 2003, the success rate has fallen from 25.3 percent to a projected 19.5 percent in 2006. The President's current budget request means fewer than one in five of the grants with the highest scores under peer review will be funded.

"Given the complexity of HIV/AIDS and the devastation it continues to cause around the world, we cannot afford to discourage the new scientists with new ideas from working in this field," said Dr. Auerbach.

The number of new HIV infections continues to rise in the United States and around the world. There are now more than one million HIV-infected people in the US, the highest number in the epidemic's 25-year history. Rates of infection continue to increase dramatically among vulnerable populations including African- American and Latina women, and men who have sex with men.

To make headway in the fight against HIV/AIDS, amfAR supports a strong federal commitment to research leading to more effective treatment and prevention methods, including vaccines and microbicides. NIH-funded research has a proud history helping to improve and prolong the lives of countless people living with HIV worldwide. Federal support for AIDS research has also led to new treatments for other diseases including cancer, heart disease, hepatitis and osteoporosis.

The Office of AIDS Research (OAR), which is charged with coordinating AIDS research across the NIH institutes, is widely considered an exemplary model of collaboration between scientists, administrators, and patient advocates. Through a comprehensive strategic planning and budgeting process led by the OAR, the NIH has been demonstrated to be an effective steward of taxpayer money.

"The NIH is the most efficient and effective funder of scientific research in the world," said Dr. Auerbach. "amfAR calls on Congress to continue the federal commitment to ending the suffering caused by AIDS and other diseases and to stop the erosion of the nation's medical research budget by increasing funding for the NIH by 5 percent in FY 2007."

amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research, is one of the world's leading nonprofit organizations dedicated to the support of AIDS research, HIV prevention, treatment education, and the advocacy of sound AIDS-related public policy. Since 1985, amfAR has invested more than $233 million in its programs and has awarded grants to more than 2,000 research teams worldwide.

http://www.usnewswire.com

Source: U.S. Newswire

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