Coalition of Scientists and AIDS Advocates Calls on Congress to Support Clinton AIDS Research Reform Proposals

"A large and growing consensus among AIDS researchers and
constituents supports the restructuring provisions in S.1," said
Derek Hodel of the AIDS Action Council, a Washington, D.C.
lobbying group which joined in today's announcement. "We're
excited that Senator Kennedy has provided an opportunity for
Congress to help President Clinton keep his promise to strengthen
AIDS research."
The National Commission on AIDS recommended strengthening OAR and
giving it budgetary authority over the NIH AIDS research effort.
In addition, prominent AIDS researchers from Harvard, Yale, MIT,
the University of California, Johns Hopkins University, Columbia,
and many other academic research sites have joined the campaign
(see list in formation, attached).
Mathilde Krim, Ph.D., co-founder of AmFAR, said "If the Director
of the Office of AIDS Research is to be truly in charge, he or
she must be empowered with considerably more independence and
authority." Currently the OAR serves in an advisory capacity.
Mark Harrington of the Treatment Action Group (TAG) said
"Currently, NIH spends over a billion dollars on AIDS, but no
one's in charge. No one's listing the high priority scientific
questions and reprogramming resources to ensure they're answered.
We need to fill the gaps in current research, eliminate
redundancies, and respond quickly to emerging crises."
The AIDS reforms in S.1 also include a discretionary fund for the
OAR Director to direct resources to high-priority questions,
public health emergencies, and other unforeseen contingencies.
The Senate will vote on S.1 next Tuesday, while the House
Subcommittee will consider similar legislation on Thursday. The
NIH bill also includes provisions strengthening women's health
research and allowing fetal tissue research, for which the bill
was twice vetoed by ex-President Bush.
"Today, we are building a new consensus for a stronger, better
focused NIH that takes better care of the real health needs of
all Americans," said Dr. Ammann, who pointed out, "We need to
ensure that every dollar is spent efficiently in order to make a
compelling case to increase NIH AIDS research funding."
Endorsing organizations include the AIDS Action Council, the
American Foundation, the AIDS Action Council, Gay Men's Health
Crisis, the Human Rights Campaign Fund, Project Inform, and the
Treatment Action Group (TAG).

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