AEGiS-GMHC: TREATMENT BRIEFS: AIDS Research Budget Reduced

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1992. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

TREATMENT BRIEFS: AIDS Research Budget Reduced

TREATMENT ISSUES, Volume 6, Number 9 - October 1992; The Gay Men's Health Crisis Newsletter of Experimental Therapies
David Gold

Despite the expansive spread of HIV in the U.S. land the world), actual funding for HIV/AIDS research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is being reduced. In 1992, the NIH AIDS budget was set at $841 million. For 1993, the President's budget proposed $873 million, although the NIH had requested $1.195 billion. The apparent 3.8% increase in the 1993 budget ends up to represent a reduction in funds, given the following: a 12% biomedical inflation rate; a total federal budget increase of 13%; and mandates to stretch research dollars to areas such as pediatrics, TB, and preventative vaccines. Incredibly, the House of Representatives reduced the President's pitiful figure even further--leaving only $864 million. The Senate has now proposed a figure similar to the President's, and a House-Senate conference committee will decide on a budget somewhere between $864-873 million.

We must examine closely our own failure to advocate effectively for an AIDS research budget. Some notable exceptions spring tv mind, such as Project Inform's research lobbying efforts, United for AIDS Action's political organizing and voter registration efforts, and AIDS Action Council finally hiring a treatment/research specialist (the talented Derek Hodel). However, if truly effective therapies for HIV are to be developed, our overall efforts on behalf of a well-funded and guided AIDS research program need to be reviewed and expanded.

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