Washington, D.C.—Today the U.S. House of Representatives will begin debate on a package of funding bills for FY 2022, including funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The bill includes $6.5 billion increase for medical research at NIH, including a $432 million increase for the National Cancer Institute, and $3.5 billion to create the Advanced Research Project Agency on Health (ARPA-H). Funding for critical cancer prevention programs, however, remains flat. This includes the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program (NBCCEDP), which provides free cancer screenings to under and uninsured patients.
A statement from Lisa Lacasse, president of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) follows:
“Throughout the pandemic cancer patients and survivors have reported significant delays in getting necessary cancer screenings, including those for breast and cervical cancer. The increased demand for screening services necessitates increased resources for programs like the NBCCEDP, which serves uninsured and underinsured patients and has provided more than 15.1 million screening exams to more than 5.8 million women since 1991.
“If we’re going to continue reducing the nation’s cancer burden, we need to prioritize prevention programs in addition to funding research. We urge the Senate to include increased funding for cancer prevention in their FY 2022 budget and for Congress to pass a final bill that increases resources for both research and prevention.”
