Senate Committee Votes to Increase Medical Research Funding

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Senate Labor, Health and Human Services and Education Committee marked up its FY 2018 spending bill today including a $2 billion funding increase for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and a $169 million funding boost for the National Cancer Institute (NCI). The bill preserves the individual programs and current funding levels for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) cancer screening and early detection programs.

A statement from American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) follows:

“ACS CAN applauds the hard work and dedication of Chairman Roy Blunt (R-MO) and Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-WA) to increase cancer research funding through the NIH and to protect cancer prevention efforts through existing programs and level funding for the Center of Disease Control and Prevention.

“Increased federal research investment is essential to developing promising new diagnostic tests, treatments and therapies. The $2 billion NIH increase approved by the committee today demonstrates the strong bipartisan commitment to continued scientific development against a disease that will claim the lives of more than 600,000 Americans this year. Senators Blunt and Murray are strongly commended for including a $2 billion increase for the NIH in the Senate Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill for the third straight year.

 “Research, when combined with prevention and early detection, can significantly reduce cancer incidence and death. That’s why the committee’s decision to protect current funding for early detection programs at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and maintain funding for the Office on Smoking and Health (OSH) is so important. Tobacco remains the number one preventable cause of cancer and OSH leads federal efforts to reduce tobacco-related death and disease by funding activities that help prevent youth from starting to use tobacco and help adult tobacco users to quit.

 “We appreciate the committee’s bipartisan commitment to increase cancer research funding and urge Congress to adopt the committee’s budget for FY 2018.”