“The Blue Sheet” Vol. 36, no. 8

February 24, 1993

"The Blue Sheet"

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For example, focus areas of NIAID include: basic
research into the biology of TB; diagnostic tools to
detect TB; development of new drugs and delivery
systems; clinical trials of anti-TB therapies; and development of new vaccines to prevent TB. The money will
also go toward a TB clinical component within NIAID's
intramural program.
Other institutes receiving additional TB research
funding include: $472,000 to the National Institute of
General Medical Sciences; $377,000 to the National
Institute on Drug Abuse; $377,000 to the National Center for Nursing Research; and $189,000 to the National
Center for Research Resources.
Separately, the Clinton Administration has submitted a supplemental budget request for the National Science Foundation (NSF) for FY 1993. If approved, NSF
would receive $207 mil. above its current funding level,
bringing NSF's total FY 1993 budget to $2.94 bil. That
sum would represent a 14% increase over the agency's
FY 1992 budget.
At a Feb. 23 hearing of the House Appropriations
Subcommittee on Veterans Affairs, HUD, and Independent Agencies, NSF Director Walter Massey testified
that $112 mil. of the additional funding would support
"strategic research initiatives at the levels proposed in
our FY 1993 budget request," including biotechnology,
global change research, advanced manufacturing, materials research and high performance computing and communications.
In particular, the additional funding would increase
NSF investment in biotechnology 28% to $206 mil.,
NSF says. The remaining $85 mil. "would be used to
augment our other, curiosity-driven research activities,"
such as the NSF's Small Business Innovation Research
program, Massey said.
NIH ADDS FUNDING FOR NEW BREAST CANCER RESEARCH;
INDIRECT COSTS WILL BE CUT - CLINTON PLAN
NIH breast cancer research funding will be
increased by more than $200 mil. beginning in fiscal
year 1994 under the Clinton Administration's budget
program.
According to a Feb. 18 HHS press release explaining details of the budget plan, introduced by the president in his speech to Congress the previous evening, the
breast cancer funding is described as a "technical adjustment to the baseline." The release states that "the NIH
baseline continues over $200 mil. for the breast cancer
research funds that originally were appropriated to the
Defense Department in 1993. This policy fully funds the
out-year costs of these multi-year grants."

Public Health Service budget officials explain that
the NIH breast cancer funding will be part of President
Clinton's formal budget request for the entire federal
government that is now scheduled to be presented to
Congress on March 23. The breast cancer proposal
would provide $216 mil. for new breast cancer research
in FY 1994, officials say. For FY 1995 through 1998,
requests for breast cancer research are projected to be
$221 mil., $227 mil., $232 mil. and $238 mil., respectively. The funding would be added to money already
programmed for ongoing NIH intiatives targeted to the
disease.
The Clinton plan would also provide increases for
AIDS treatment programs funded under the Ryan White
CARE Act of 1990 administered by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). The proposal
projects funding of approximately $1 bil. for FY
1994-1997. When enacted, the legislation contained a
first-year, FY 1991 authorization level of $881 mil. For
FY 1992, the authorization level was $555 mil. AIDS
advocacy groups, as well as the National Commission,
on AIDS, have repeatedly called for full funding of the
legislation, for which appropriations have never
approached authorization levels.
HHS To Announce Extra Title I Funding Soon
Shortly before leaving office, then-HHS Secretary
Louis Sullivan announced $91 mil. in FY 1993 awards
for 24 metropolitan areas funded under Ryan White's
Title I. Metropolitan areas qualifying for these formula
grants must have reported more than 2,000 cases of
AIDS, as defined by the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention, during the previous year. An additional
$91 mil. in supplementary FY 1993 Title I funds, which
are awarded on a competitive basis, will be announced
shortly, as will $115 mil. in Title II monies targeted to
states.
Additionally, the Clinton Administration plans to increase FY 1993 Ryan White funding by $200 mil.,
according to HHS. Titles I and II of the Act will each
receive $85 mil., while Title III, which focuses on early
intervention services and is jointly administered by
HRSA and CDC, will receive $25 mil. Title IV of the
Act, designed to support pediatric AIDS research and
services, will be funded at $5 mil. in FY 1993. Under
the Bush Administration, Title IV was not funded.
In another public health area, CDC's childhood
immunization program will receive supplemental FY
1993 funding of $300 mil., as announced by Clinton on
Feb. 12 ("The Blue Sheet" Feb. 17, p. 9). Substance
abuse prevention and treatment programs are scheduled
to be funded at $1.5 bil. from FY 1994 through FY
1997.

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