Research Saves Lives
Funding for medical research is critical to our fight against heart disease and stroke, yet the budget for research conducted through the National Institutes of Health (NIH) could be cut if Members of Congress don’t act soon.
We need you to help by telling lawmakers that funding for research saves lives!
As your constituent and as an advocate for the American Heart Association's You're the Cure network, I urge you to ask the Chairman and the Ranking Member of the health appropriations subcommittee to adopt the House funding level for the National Institutes of Health as they resolve differences in the 2012 bills. This amount will allow the NIH to improve health, spur economic growth and innovation, and advance science.
Enhanced funding for the NIH is a proven and wise investment. NIH supported research has revolutionized patient care, holds the key to new treatments and generates economic growth and innovation.
Robust NIH funded research is our best hope to prevent and even cure heart disease, stroke and other forms of cardiovascular disease---a major cause of permanent disability, the leading cause of death in our State, and our Nation's most costly killer. However, NIH continues to invest only 5% of its budget on heart research and a mere 1% on stroke research. These current funding levels do not allow scientists to take advantage of promising opportunities that could lead to new treatment and prevention strategies, and even cures.
NIH invests resources in every state and in 90% of congressional districts. In fact, the typical NIH grant supports about seven primarily high-tech full-time or part-time jobs.
Thank you in advance for asking the Chairman and the Ranking Member of the health appropriations subcommittee to adopt the House funding level for the NIH as they resolve differences in the 2012 appropriation bills. Adoption of this amount will help ensure continued progress against heart disease and stroke that kill and disable too many of our friends, family members and loved ones.
