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AAAAI, ACAAI call for bipartisan refusal of NIH budget cuts
The American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology and the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology released a joint statement addressing President Donald J. Trump’s proposed budget cuts to the National Institutes of Health, which would reduce the organization’s entire budget by nearly 20%.
The statement urges Congress to uphold their previous commitment to bipartisan teamwork towards increased allotted spending for medical research.
Though the proposed cuts to the NIH remain unspecified, the AAAAI and the ACAAI are “gravely concerned” about the impact this budget would have on citizens requiring health care treatments and developments.
“Although the budget blueprint released by President Trump earlier today is short on specifics, it is hard to imagine how cuts of this magnitude could be accomplished without doing serious harm to the core mission of the NIH — medical research,” David B. Peden, MD, president of the AAAAI, and Stephen A. Tilles, MD, president of the ACAAI said upon learning of the proposed cuts on March 16, 2017. “Together, we call upon Congress to reject any cuts to the NIH that would decrease the NIH’s ability to conduct life–saving medical research and training.”
Funding for medical research to promote evidence-based allergy, asthma and immunologic disorder treatment, HIV/AIDS, and both emerging and reemerging diseases, has been supported by the NIH and, specifically, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS).
“Each year, billions of dollars are spent treating the causes and symptoms of food, drug and skin allergy, immunodeficiency and asthma,” Peden and Tilles wrote. “Through the work of NIAID, NHLBI, and NIEHS and the research they are funding, we have the opportunity to identify and develop life-saving and life-improving treatments for these widespread chronic conditions.” — by Katherine Bortz