Since its early days, the Alliance has supported the vital research at the National Institutes of Health.
Alliance Supports Funding Increase for NIH in Congressional FY 2017 Spending Package
Published May 1, 2017
May 1st, 2017 –The Alliance for Aging Research’s President and CEO Susan Peschin, MHS, has released the following statement in response to the Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 spending package released today, which provides $34.1 billion for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), a $2 billion increase over FY 2016.
The Alliance for Aging Research (Alliance) strongly supports the $2 billion increase for the NIH included in the FY 2017 spending package, and we urge Congress and President Trump to finalize this investment without further delay.
We are grateful for the leadership of the U.S. Senate and House Appropriations Committees and for their perseverance in support of a robust investment in NIH in FY 2017. We thank Senate Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Subcommittee Chair Roy Blunt (R-MO), Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-WA), and member Lamar Alexander (R-TN) as well as House Subcommittee Chair Tom Cole (R-OK) and Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) for continuing the longstanding bipartisan, bicameral tradition of championing our nation’s commitment to medical research.
The $34.1 billion funding level for FY 2017 includes $352 million provided in the 21st Century Cures Act for targeted initiatives and a $400 million increase for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias research. If signed into law, total annual funding for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias research at NIH would rise more than 40 percent over the current level to nearly $1.4 billion.
The FY 2017 increase will allow NIH to accelerate the scientific discoveries that we as a nation are counting on. With millions of Americans facing the loss of their functional abilities, their independence, and their lives to chronic diseases of aging, there is a pressing need for robust and sustained investment in the work of the NIH. In every community in America, health care providers depend upon NIH-funded discoveries to help their older adult patients and family caregivers lead healthier and more independent lives.
We look forward to working with Congress and the Trump Administration to secure passage of this funding for NIH in FY 2017 as soon as possible.
About the Alliance for Aging Research
The Alliance for Aging Research is the leading nonprofit organization dedicated to accelerating the pace of scientific discoveries and their application in order to vastly improve the universal human experience of aging and health. The Alliance was founded in 1986 in Washington, D.C., and has since become a valued advocacy organization and a respected influential voice with policymakers. Visit agingresearch.org for more information.