The US senate 'Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Bill' has proposed the largest annual increase for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) since 2003, a move likely to have a benefit for cancer research worldwide.

The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) has commended both the House and the Senate Appropriations Committees for making medical research a priority, and for recognizing the critical role that National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded research plays in saving lives for those with cancer and other diseases. This funding is urgently needed if we are to continue to uncover scientific breakthroughs.

AACR President Prof José Baselga, commented: “With advances in technology, there has never been a more exciting time in biomedical research against cancer and other diseases. 

While the NIH budget has stagnated for more than a decade, the Senate’s proposal of a $2 billion increase in NIH funding for the Fiscal Year (FY) 2016 budget is a positive paradigm shift that reflects the importance of biomedical research, and overcomes the previous hurdles that have resulted from budget sequestration.

This additional funding has the potential to open up new opportunities to cultivate junior scientists, to advance our understanding of genetics, and ultimately, to develop more effective treatments for patients with cancer and other diseases.”

Jon Retzlaff, managing director of the AACR’s Office of Science Policy and Government Affairs is also available for interviews to discuss AACR’s position, the political landscape, and future considerations that would enable this bill to be passed by the Senate.

“This increase of approximately $2 billion is a significant step toward putting the NIH back on a path of sustained, predictable growth,” said Retzlaff. “The AACR applauds this bipartisan support for medical research, as well as specifically, Chairman Blunt’s leadership and commitment to supporting the NIH.

“However, we also recognize that this proposed increase for NIH is likely going to be dependent on a broader budget agreement to ease these restrictive spending caps that are in place for FY 2016, especially since Senate Democrats are threatening to filibuster all spending bills that adhere to the sequester budget caps, and the president has promised to veto any of the spending bills that arrive at his desk adhering to the budget caps.

Therefore, this situation underscores the enormous importance for Democrats and Republicans to come together to ensure that the necessary additional resources are provided for both defense and nondefense discretionary programs.”

Today, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved the Labor, Health and Human Services, and FY 2016 spending bill, which provides a $2 billion increase, 6.6 percent, in funding for the NIH — the largest increase since 2003. In addition, the committee recommended a 5 percent increase of $250 million in funding for the National Cancer Institute (NCI). These increases exceed those approved by the House Appropriations Committee June 24.

The mark-up of the Senate Appropriations bill dovetails with the national discussion underway regarding the president’s Precision Medicine Initiative, which received a $200 million funding commitment in the proposed bill.

Baselga and other fellows of the AACR Academy participated in a Congressional briefing on precision medicine in partnership with the White House Office of Science and Technology June 17 to share their expertise and insight into how to best advance medical research, and emphasized the importance of investing in and harnessing the latest genomics technologies available to prevent or effectively treat cancer and many other diseases.

Source: AACR