WASHINGTON, D.C.—Advocates are pushing Congress to increase cancer research funding at that National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Cancer Institute (NCI) and to fund the president’s proposal to create the Advanced Research Project on Health (ARPA-H) as part of the FY 2022 federal budget. The effort comes ahead of a Tuesday House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing on the ARPA-H proposal and following the president’s announcement last week that he’s “reigniting” his Cancer Moonshot initiative.
“This is a critical moment for the future of cancer research and prevention,” said Lisa Lacasse, president of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN). “Congress, together with the administration, has the chance to really marshal all the resources of the federal government to accelerate the pace of progress against this disease. Patients, survivors and their families are optimistic that the momentum is there to significantly increase resources for the NIH, NCI and to carefully craft a new agency that can ensure the science gets from the lab to the bedside as quickly as possible.”
Advocates are asking for a $9 billion boost for biomedical research, which includes funding for ARPA-H, and an increase for NIH which would include a $1 billion increase for NCI in the budget. The increases would help keep pace with medical inflation and invest in future research.
Cancer research is one of the most dynamic areas of scientific research within NIH. Between FY 2013 and FY 2019, the number of grant applications to NCI rose by 50% while it rose by just 5% for all other Institutes. Yet, due to limited resources, NCI is unable to fund hundreds of high-quality applications every year and without a 2022 budget may soon be forced to freeze issuing new grants and make cuts to existing programs.
“Research can’t be turned on and off like a switch. We need consistent federal investments in research to both ensure future advancements and to maximize past research investment,” said Lacasse. “The bipartisan support for medical research is strong and we’re optimistic Congress can do what’s right to provide for robust research.”
As part of that push, ACS CAN is launching a paid print advertising campaign advocating for robust funding in the FY 22 budget as a critical down payment to begin to advance the president’s Cancer Moonshot. The ads make clear the urgent need to move forward with funding and will run in this week in Washington, D.C, as well as in select major media markets nationwide.
“Research is a critical reason we’ve seen significant progress in saving lives from cancer over the last several decades, but we need to do more,” said Lacasse. “And we need our lawmakers to help do their part.”
In 2022 it’s estimated 1.9 million Americans will be diagnosed with cancer and more 600,000 will die from the disease.
