Diabetes Research Funding

Yesterday the Bush Administration proposed a budget for fiscal
year 2008 that would severely under-fund diabetes research and
prevention at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention. Given that one out of every
ten health care dollars is spent on diabetes and its complications, we
should be investing in research for a cure and diabetes treatment and
prevention. The Administration's budget proposal is just the first step in the process that will affect how much money is spent on diabetes
research and prevention. In the next few weeks, Congress will develop
its own budget proposal. Under the Administration’s budget proposal, funding for the National Institute of Diabetes & Digestive & Kidney Diseases would be funded at 1.858 billion, less than 1 percent increase from the previous fiscal year. The Administration and Congress have not increased the federal resources directed at diabetes in four years, while the disease has grown by 30 percent in the same time period. Currently, one in ten health care dollars-and one in four Medicare dollars- is spent on diabetes and its complications. Without the proper investment in diabetes treatment and prevention, our health care system will continue to spiral downward.