Archive for the ‘Congress’ Category
OCNA and other cancer groups testify before congress
Cancer Groups Testify regarding Department of Defense Research Programs
Using those figures, ovarian cancer research is drastically underfunded (PDF). Last year the Congressional Directed Medical Research Programs funded $138 million for breast cancer research, $80 million for prostate cancer research and $10 million for ovarian cancer research. This funding represents $3,000 for each breast cancer or prostate cancer death—but only $650 for each ovarian cancer death.
Mark Carlebach, the widower of Lacey Gallagher, represented the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance in requesting $25 million for Fiscal Year 2009. Carlebach told Congress about his wife and her proposal that advocates should change their argument for research money. Before her death, Ms. Gallagher suggested that advocates look not at the total amount of money allocated by cancer type, or by cancer incidence, but by cancer mortality.
I fully agree with looking at the cancer mortality. There’s a problem that after 20 years, ovarian cancer mortality rates have NOT decreased.
Cancer Research Funding
I received this Alert in my email today. Click on Take Action below and a letter is prepared for you to email your Senators and House Representative in your area.
Congress is Considering Additional Funding for NIH & FDA
Support Additional Funds for NIH and FDA
Take Action!Congress is considering the FY 2008 supplemental appropriations bill this week. The committee intends to include $400 million for the National Institutes of Health in this spending package. If successful, the committee would provide the National Cancer Institute with up to an additional $65 million on top of the $4.8 billion already appropriated in FY 2008. The inclusion of these funds in a supplemental funding bill is extremely rare and illustrates the strength of support that cancer research has in Congress.
In FY 2008, NCI received a budget increase of 0.3 percent over FY 2007, while biomedical inflation rose approximately 3.5 percent. Five years of flat funding have significantly hindered research progress and have forced NIH and NCI to make difficult funding decisions and to make painful cuts to ongoing research projects, including the delay and scaling back of clinical trials. When the NCI budget falls, we see that ovarian cancer research is cut back significantly.
This additional $400 million would be enough for NIH to support an additional 700 research grants in FY 2008 at institutions across the country. An additional $65 million to NCI is much needed and will help NCI to maintain support for research and much-needed access to valuable clinical trials.
Secondly, Senator Herbert Kohl (D-WI) has offered an amendment to include an additional $275 million for FDA in the supplemental which will help ensure patient access to safe and effective drugs and therapies. Funding for FDA has not kept pace with inflation in recent years so this additional funding is needed now more than ever.
Please contact your elected officials to tell them that you support increased funds for drug safety and cancer research.
