(Washington, DC) Today, the National Alliance for Eye and Vision Research (NAEVR) released a statement after the House Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education (LHHS) Appropriations Subcommittee approved along party lines its Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 spending bill with a $3.5 billion increase over FY2021 to the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) base funding for a level of $46.2 billion [as well as $3 billion for the proposed Advanced Research Projects Agency-Health (ARPA-H)] and a $41.4 million increase, or 5 percent over FY2021, to the National Eye Institute for a funding level of $877.1 million. NAEVR Executive Director James Jorkasky said the following:
“NAEVR commends the Subcommittee for its proposed FY2022 funding of $49 billion overall for the NIH, including the $46.2 billion for its base funding. This level enables at least a 5 percent increase for each Institute and Center, including the National Eye Institute, to support a wide range of biomedical and behavioral research, as well as targeted investments in several high-priority areas. This broad research foundation will be critical to the success of the proposed Advanced Research Projects Agency-Health, and NAEVR appreciates that the Subcommittee’s proposed bill includes ARPA-H funding that supplements, rather than supplants, NIH’s base.
With respect to NEI funding, the proposed 5 percent increase reflecting biomedical inflation plus growth will be critical to the Agency regaining its purchasing power, which in FY2021 was less than that in FY2012.
NAEVR appreciates the leadership of Subcommittee Chairwoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) and Ranking Member Tom Cole (R-OK), who along with their Senate counterparts have been instrumental in supporting the NIH to recover lost ground over the last six years after a decade of effectively flat funding and to advance new groundbreaking science. We look forward to working with both the House Subcommittee and their Senate colleagues toward timely enactment of a final FY2022 LHHS spending bill that maximizes investment in the NIH and the NEI and the promise that research holds for patients.”
The National Alliance for Eye and Vision Research (NAEVR) is a 501(c)4 non-profit advocacy coalition comprised of 55 professional, consumer, and industry organizations involved in eye and vision research. Visit the Web site at www.eyeresearch.org.