Funding

Why Advocate for NIH Funding?

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the world’s largest funder of biomedical research and currently supports $154 million in Parkinson’s research (Fiscal Year [FY] 2012).  The NIH funds research grants in all fifty states designed to identify and develop medical discoveries that improve people’s health, understand disease, and save lives.  For millions of individuals and families living with Parkinson’s and other chronic, progressive diseases, NIH research offers great promise for better treatments and, ultimately, a cure.

PAN works in coalition to increase federal funding for the NIH as a member of the Ad Hoc Group for Medical Research, a coalition of over 100 patient advocacy groups, academic institutions, and scientific communities, and as a member of the National Health Council, an organization of over 100 national health-related organizations that provides a united voice for the more than 133 million people with chronic diseases and disabilities and their family caregivers.

Current Funding Efforts

On March 26, 2013, President Obama signed a funding bill to keep all government programs funded through September 2013.  Although Congress provided a slight funding increase, as a result of sequestration, the NIH will lose $1.55 billion in funding in FY 2013.  PAN is advocating for a funding level of at least $32 billion for FY 2014 to off-set sequestration cuts and ensure sustained funding for the NIH.  On May 6, 2013 PAN submitted comments to the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Subcommittee in support of at least $32 billion in funding for the NIH in FY 2014.  To read our full comments, click here.  For more information, see this one-page summary.