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3/30/05 Subcommittee on Labor-HHS-Education RE: Submission of written statement for the hearing
regarding The death rate in our country from AIDS has plummeted as evidenced by the 98 percent drop in California’s newly infected AIDS patients[i] to 201 (as of 2/28/05) and this success against AIDS is being repeated throughout America, yet AIDS still receives ten percent of the entire National Institutes of Health (NIH) disease research budget. Such exorbitant funding for AIDS has resulted in unfair allocations for all non-AIDS diseases, including the sixteen that kill a million more Americans than AIDS annually.[ii] For example, cardiovascular disease kills almost a million Americans compared to 18,017 (2003)[iii] for AIDS, yet the NIH is spending only $40 on each CVD patient versus $3,084 on each AIDS patient in research.[iv] Diabetes kills more citizens than AIDS and breast cancer combined, yet only $80 is spent on each diabetic in research. Only eighty-eight citizens died of the West Nile Virus (WNV) in 2004,[v] yet $17,408 is being spent on each patient infected with WNV and while hepatitis C (HCV) affects 4-5 times as many as AIDS and kills almost as many, only $25 is allocated for each HCV patient. Regardless if the funding comparison is measured utilizing “allocation per patient,” “allocation per death” or “total allocation” per disease, the great success of AIDS researchers has resulted in funding for AIDS now being disproportionate and inequitable. In addition, hundreds of millions of dollars are raised for AIDS by celebrities and non-profit organizations (amfAR, etc.) while similar efforts do not exist for many other diseases. The NIH has responded to The FAIR Foundation’s requests to cease the favoritism afforded HIV/AIDS and to reallocate some of the present AIDS dollars to other diseases by referencing global AIDS and the fact that AIDS is communicable (infectious). What is the solution for global AIDS—more research? No, the answer to global AIDS is the same solution that has dropped the death rate in California 98 percent, namely: preventive education, the drugs that have been developed that have converted AIDS from an acute illness into a chronic illness (HAART or Highly Active Anti-retroviral Therapy) and Harm Reduction Policies. Regarding the “communicable” nature of AIDS, Congress must force realization upon the NIH that simply because an illness is “infectious” does not warrant disproportionate research funding. Furthermore, patients suffering from non-communicable illnesses such as prostate diseases, Alzheimer’s disease, arthritis, etc. should not be discriminated against because they cannot transmit their disease to another person or because its etiology is congenital or acquired by environmental causes. An unrecognized factor negatively impacting all non-AIDS diseases is the “compounding effect” of present NIH policy. The present funding total of each disease may be viewed as their “principal balance” for this analogy. If the President announces a 2 percent increase in NIH funding, the increase in AIDS funding will be approximately $60 million whereas Alzheimer’s disease will receive only $14 million and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) $1 million even though those two diseases kill, respectively, three and nine times more Americans than AIDS. Each year the additional increases in the “principle balance,” or total funding, results in the “compounding interest effect” that increases the disproportionate funding for AIDS. Consequently, the gap in funding between AIDS and all other diseases grows even larger. The FAIR Foundation (FAIR is an acronym for “Fair Allocations In Research) is a national organization representing thousands of Americans—concerned citizens—who want the success of AIDS advocates and AIDS researchers recognized with a corresponding change in the allocation priorities of the NIH. On behalf of our members we are respectfully requesting that AIDS research allocations be reevaluated based on its lessened threat to our society. We are including 18 brochures, one for each committee member and we thank you for your consideration. Sincerely yours,
President and CEO, The FAIR Foundation
Waldo Concepcion, M.D., FACS
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