United for Medical Research (UMR) applauds the roughly 3% percent increase the President has proposed in the FY2011 budget for the National Institutes of Health (NIH). An increase of such an amount in this challenging budget environment is a true testament to the President’s ongoing commitment to science and biomedical research. Robust funding for the world’s leading source of biomedical funding drives better health and a stronger economy.
Each year, NIH funding directly supports 325,000 jobs in U.S. research facilities in all fifty states and the U.S. territories, and indirectly supports thousands of additional jobs in companies that supply and support research labs and research employees. NIH funded research is also a main source of the discoveries that some of the nation’s most significant employers – the biotech and pharmaceutical industries – build upon to produce the next generation of treatments and cures.
NIH supported research has produced a revolution in biomedical science. Scientists and clinicians are now fighting disease using newly gained knowledge about biological structures and functions. Combined with the increasingly rapid evolution of new technologies supporting and accelerating scientists’ work, scientific progress is shrinking the average time between basic discovery and new treatments, and enabling higher quality health care and less waste.
Today’s budget announcement is a promising continuation of the President’s commitment to this important field. But more can be done to ensure the nation is able to full reap the benefits of this historic opportunity in biomedical science. In the months and years ahead, UMR will continue to make the case for strong funding for the NIH to ensure we deliver on that promise for our national economy and countless patients who count on the results of biomedical research.
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