Tell Congress to Fully Fund HIV/AIDS Research

Dear Chairmen Harkin and Obey:

I am writing to urge you to support the highest possible funding level for HIV/AIDS and other health research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the final version of the FY2010 Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations bill, and at a minimum the $31.26 billion in funding proposed by the House of Representatives.

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As the leading health research institution in the world, NIH must continue to play a central role in developing the prevention and treatment interventions that can change the course of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Yet years of essentially flat funding for NIH has taken a serious toll, undermining our ability to respond to infectious diseases, including AIDS.

According to Dr. Francis Collins, NIH's new Director, flat funding combined with inflation has resulted in nearly a 20% loss in buying power for NIH over the past five years. In 2007, the Institutes were able to support just over one in five (21%) research proposals as opposed to nearly one in three (32%) in 1998, and funded grants are routinely cut by 10% or more. The result is numerous missed opportunities to capitalize on innovative and potentially breakthrough research proposals.

HIV/AIDS research efforts have brought us close to major new advances against this global scourge, and there is growing hope that a cure for AIDS will eventually be discovered. Without increased investments in vital research, potential advances will be delayed or will fail to be realized, resulting in unnecessary suffering and death of people living with HIV/AIDS around the world.

NIH can also play an important role in realizing some of the goals of health care reform, including prevention and wellness activities. For these reasons, doubling funding for health research at NIH over the next five years would represent a sound investment in America's scientific leadership and the health of people around the world.

In addition, I urge you to remove a provision included in the House Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill that would end funding for three NIH research studies on HIV prevention in international settings. Scientists should decide health research funding based on the merit of applications and the track record of investigators. Congress must respect the integrity of the scientific peer review process at NIH if public funds are to be used to pursue the most promising and highest quality research studies.