Dear Friends….
Leading researchers believe we can stop Alzheimer’s by 2025 if sufficient funding is allocated to Alzheimer’s research.
Congress is hammering out the details of the 2014 budget right now and we must convince them to prioritize biomedical research funding before it is too late.
The deep budget cuts – known as “sequestration” – that went into effect earlier this year are slowing efforts to find the cause of Alzheimer’s and to develop effective treatments and therapies to slow, modify, stop, and eventually prevent it.
The NIH’s 2013 budget has already been cut by $1.55 billion and, unless we can convince Congress to change course now, even more drastic cuts will be made in 2014 that will mean fewer research grants and delayed progress in medical breakthroughs.1
Some researchers are being forced to take out personal loans to keep their labs open – a practice that is clearly unsustainable.2
The budget cuts also mean that fewer research scientists are being trained – we’ve already lost one out of every ten MD-PhD training slots due to sequestration.3
Congress will be trying to reach an agreement on the budget in the next two to three weeks. This blueprint would set spending levels, and without adequate room for biomedical research and other programs, increased funding for Alzheimer’s research will be unlikely.
You and I both know that the squeaky wheel gets the grease. Taking just a minute to raise your voice now will help ensure that our call for Alzheimer’s research funding can be heard in the halls of Congress.
Thank you again for raising your voice to stop this devastating disease from claiming more lives and destroying more families.
1. http://www.nih.gov/news/health/jun2013/nih-03.htm
2. http://fcnp.com/2013/08/21/congressman-morans-news-commentary-sequester-cuts-disrupting-nih-projects/
3. http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bs-ed-biomedical-research,0,6244826.story
The Long and Winding Road... 