WASHINGTON--President Clinton has asked Congress to approve $2.217 billion
in funding for the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in fiscal year 1998,
which begins next Oct. 1.
The President's request would increase the institute's budget by $61
million, or 2.82%, above the sum Congress approved for fiscal year 1997.
However, the $61 million increase--if not raised by the Congress--would
fail to match the anticipated inflation rate of 3%.
Comments from several influential members of Congress suggest that NCI
will get an even larger increase than sought by the White House.
Research funds in NCI's proposed budget include breast cancer, $328.8
million; lung, $128.2; prostate, $77.5 million; cervical, $56 million;
ovarian, $40.6 million; and uterine, $9 million.
The Clinton Administration budget includes full funding for NCI to continue
supporting contracts for the ASSIST antismoking campaign. This collaborative
effort by the institute, the American Cancer Society, state and local health
departments, and other voluntary organizations is taking steps to develop
comprehensive smoking control programs in 17 states.
President Clinton proposed raising the total NIH budget by $337 million,
or 2.6%, to $13.1 billion. Sen. Connie Mack (R-Fla), who would like to
see the NIH budget doubled over the next five years (see News in Brief
item below), called the proposed hike "paltry" and "absolutely
unacceptable."
The proposed budget would also give Medicare recipients coverage for
cancer screenings such as mammograms and colon examinations.
The President offered a budget for the National Institute of Allergy
and Infectious Diseases of $634 million, an increase of $25 million (4.1%).
AIDS Vaccine Research Increased
Overall, the NIH budget for AIDS research would rise by 2.6% to $1.54
billion, which includes what HHS Secretary Donna E. Shalala, PhD, called
"a substantial increase in funding for AIDS vaccine research."
The proposed $2.3 billion budget for the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention includes $634 million for AIDS prevention, a $17 million
increase.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) budget would rise by $69 million
to $1.064 billion.
This includes $244 million to come from users fees paid by pharmaceutical
companies to help fund the drug approval process; fees paid by mammography
centers for required inspections; and new users fees that would cover parts
of the pre- and postmarket work in food, human drugs, biologics, animals
drugs, and devices.
