The National Alliance for Eye and Vision Research (NAEVR) is encouraged to see the House Appropriations Committee continue to build on its promise to support strong public health and research infrastructure in the United States and urges the Committee to pass needed funded increases for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and specifically, the National Eye Institute (NEI).
NAEVR is encouraged by the proposed increase in the NIH budget and appreciates the committee’s summary that would provide no less than a 3.2% increase for all Institutes and Centers.
“While we recognize the funding level for NIH falls short of the 9% increase that NAEVR and our partners requested, we recognize the valuable work the Committee has put in to propose an eighth consecutive year of increases for NIH,” said Dan Ignaszewski, Executive Director of NAEVR. “We recognize that this bill provides a strong starting point for final negotiations, and we look forward to seeing greater detail soon as we work with the House and Senate.”
The House bill would increase funding for NIH in FY23 to $47.6 billion, ($2.64 billion over FY22, a more than 5.6% increase), with details of each institute’s proposed funding levels forthcoming.
NAEVR had also requested an ambitious 10% increase for NEI in FY23 to recognize the need to address the looming vision epidemic in the United States and support NEI’s success and the quality research that continues to improve and advance outcomes for eye and vision care.
“We support the House’s efforts to increase funding for NIH and NEI specifically, and we look forward to working with both the House and Senate as we continue to advocate for much-needed increases in the FY23 budget.”
