APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEES CALL FOR GREATER PARKINSON'S RESEARCH FUNDING
In recent actions by the House and Senate Appropriations Committees as
they craft the 1998 spending bills for the National Institutes of Health
(NIH), each has taken steps directing NIH to allocate more research
dollars towards Parkinson's.
SENATE ACTION: In report language accompanying the Senate
Appropriations Labor-HHS Subcommittee's 1998 appropriation for the NIH,
the Committee noted that it "continues to seek intensified and expanded
efforts by the Institute to understand the pathophysiology of
Parkinson's disease and develop effective therapies for this devastating
disorder." While the Committee was pleased to hear of the genetics
advance -- which, it noted, came about as a result of the 1995 workshop
held in response to the Committee's directive -- it recognized that "much
remains to be done to improve the outlook for patients and families."
The Committee stated that its funding recommendation "includes
sufficient funds for the Institute to expand funding for research in
Parkinson's," which will "allow a balanced program of basic and clinical
research, including centers, clinical trials, and further work in the
genetics and cell biology of neurodegenerative disease."
In a separate action, the Committee also approved a major increase
in the "neurodegenerative initiative," funds given to the Office of the
NIH Director for a NIH-wide effort. Begun with $8 million in 1996, the
1998 Senate-proposed budget allocates $17 million to this initiative,
and directs the NIH Director to "coordinate this high-priority research
related to costly conditions such as Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's
disease and ALS."
The Committee's spending recommendations will be sent to the entire
Senate for a vote upon its September return in. The bill will then go
to a House-Senate Conference Committee to reconcile differences between
it and the House Labor-HHS Appropriations bill.
HOUSE ACTION: The House Appropriations Committee echoed the Senate's
concern in its own report language, noting "the promising research in
this field," and urging the NIH's Neurology Institute to "intensify its
efforts" on Parkinson's and use "all available mechanisms" including
"centers, requests for application, program announcements, and extended
funding of selected investigators now working in the field."
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Parkinson's Action Network
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