Open Letter to House and Senate Appropriators: Oppose Cuts to HIV/AIDS Research Funding! |
Open Letter to Appropriators: Oppose Cuts the HIV/AIDS Research Funding!
OPEN LETTER TO HOUSE AND SENATE APPROPRIATORS FROM HIV/AIDS RESEARCHERS AND COLLEAGUES
May 28, 2015
Dear Members of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees:
The undersigned clinicians, researchers and other medical professionals working on the front lines of HIV/AIDS research are writing to express our strong support for sustained robust funding of HIV/AID research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Many of us on the front lines of the HIV epidemic across the nation and globally, recall all too vividly the dark days when HIV infection was a death sentence – and we had little to offer our patients but palliative care. Since then, NIH-funded HIV/AIDS research has supported extraordinary successes in innovative basic science for better drug therapies, behavioral and biomedical prevention interventions that have saved and improved the lives of millions. Federal support for HIV/AIDS research has also led to new treatments and ways of approaching other diseases, including cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer’s, hepatitis, osteoporosis and a wide range of autoimmune disorders.
Despite tremendous progress, many daunting challenges remain in the quest for improved prevention and treatment therapies, a scalable vaccine, and ultimately a cure. We support an increased overall level of funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to enhance and accelerate investments in therapies and cures for all of the many diseases that afflict Americans such as Alzheimer’s, heart disease, cancer, diabetes and infectious diseases including HIV/AIDS. However, we caution against allocating research dollars simply on the basis of disease burden in the US. Research investment to contain and control the spread of deadly infectious diseases must be a priority to advance public health and protect global security. There continue to be 50,000 new HIV infections in the United States every year and the global toll is enormous—more than 33 million people infected and 2 million new infections annually. Our investments to date have saved the lives of millions and prevented countless new infections but continued support is essential to protect the investment to date and to control and ultimately end the HIV epidemic.
Now is the time to prioritize, not curtail HIV/AIDS research. Research advances to develop a preventive vaccine and a cure for HIV infection hold the potential to end the most devastating epidemic in human history. Please support an overall higher level of funding for the NIH and oppose any legislative or report language that would re-direct or otherwise diminish funding for HIV/AIDS research at this pivotal time of immense hope and scientific promise towards ending HIV/AIDS in our lifetime. Thank you for considering these views.
*Sincerely,
[List in formation]
* Institutional affiliations are included for attribution purposes only.
May 28, 2015
Dear Members of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees:
The undersigned clinicians, researchers and other medical professionals working on the front lines of HIV/AIDS research are writing to express our strong support for sustained robust funding of HIV/AID research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Many of us on the front lines of the HIV epidemic across the nation and globally, recall all too vividly the dark days when HIV infection was a death sentence – and we had little to offer our patients but palliative care. Since then, NIH-funded HIV/AIDS research has supported extraordinary successes in innovative basic science for better drug therapies, behavioral and biomedical prevention interventions that have saved and improved the lives of millions. Federal support for HIV/AIDS research has also led to new treatments and ways of approaching other diseases, including cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer’s, hepatitis, osteoporosis and a wide range of autoimmune disorders.
Despite tremendous progress, many daunting challenges remain in the quest for improved prevention and treatment therapies, a scalable vaccine, and ultimately a cure. We support an increased overall level of funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to enhance and accelerate investments in therapies and cures for all of the many diseases that afflict Americans such as Alzheimer’s, heart disease, cancer, diabetes and infectious diseases including HIV/AIDS. However, we caution against allocating research dollars simply on the basis of disease burden in the US. Research investment to contain and control the spread of deadly infectious diseases must be a priority to advance public health and protect global security. There continue to be 50,000 new HIV infections in the United States every year and the global toll is enormous—more than 33 million people infected and 2 million new infections annually. Our investments to date have saved the lives of millions and prevented countless new infections but continued support is essential to protect the investment to date and to control and ultimately end the HIV epidemic.
Now is the time to prioritize, not curtail HIV/AIDS research. Research advances to develop a preventive vaccine and a cure for HIV infection hold the potential to end the most devastating epidemic in human history. Please support an overall higher level of funding for the NIH and oppose any legislative or report language that would re-direct or otherwise diminish funding for HIV/AIDS research at this pivotal time of immense hope and scientific promise towards ending HIV/AIDS in our lifetime. Thank you for considering these views.
*Sincerely,
[List in formation]
* Institutional affiliations are included for attribution purposes only.