NAEVR Statement on President’s FY2024 Budget

(Washington, DC) On March 9th, the Administration released the President’s FY2024 Budget Request. The National Alliance for Eye and Vision Research (NAEVR) supports the statement issued by the Ad Hoc Group for Medical Research – of which it is a member – expressing concern that the budget request for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) underfunds the Institutes and is detrimental to patients today and tomorrow.

NAEVR recognizes that the Administration proposed moderate increases in discretionary funding for medical research at a few Institutes, but keeps level funding at nearly every Institute, including the National Eye Institute (NEI) which has historically remained underfunded for the past decade. We are concerned that the investment for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and specifically the National Eye Institute (NEI) falls short of the Institute’s ability to respond to the research needs of today and to improve the outcomes of patients in the future.

“NAEVR appreciates the Administration’s commitment to medical research funding at NIH but remains concerned that the level funding proposed for the NEI will continue to leave Americans behind as we’re facing an epidemic of vision loss in the United States,” said Dan Ignaszewski, Executive Director of NAEVR. “We recognize that the President’s budget request is a marker, and NAEVR will continue to work with Congress to advocate for increases beyond those outlined in the President’s request to elevate NEI funding beyond base level increases the Institute has seen for the past eight years so we can invest in the research that will improve outcomes for patients today and tomorrow.”

NAEVR is working with coalition partners at the Ad Hoc Group for Medical Research and Coalition for Health Funding and has called to fund NIH at a level of $50.924 billion (a $2.659 billion increase over the President’s request). Additionally, NAEVR is leading efforts to request $975 million for the National Eye Institute, an increase of 9% over the President’s FY2024 request and FY2023 funding level.

We continue to look forward to working with the Administration and Congress to ensure NIH and NEI are equipped with the resources necessary to continue to make progress against existing health challenges and can invest in research to provide the solutions of tomorrow.