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March 07, 2006
Zerhouni on "The NIH Investment"
Today, Dr. Zerhouni, NIH Director, is quoted as saying:
"I have made a decision that we are strategically going to educate people. We are launching a strategic ... campaign to educate the American people about the value of the NIH investment over the last 34 years," Zerhouni said. "I am sick and tired of hearing negative messages about NIH, and I am going to take on directly the job of
educating the people about the extraordinary value of the nation's investment."
Research Policy Alert (registration required): http://sacserv.com/tracking.jsp?linkid=31310&subid=3148347&campid=146997&type=0
This bold statement is echoed in earlier more formal presentations.
APA Online: Zerhouni: Cool in the Hot Seat: http://www.apa.org/ppo/issues/zerhounitest305.html
Transcript / fulltext of his presentation is in a link at the bottom of this page.
"Congress's investment in NIH has paid quantifiable human health dividends."
Fulfilling the Promise: Celebrating the Academic Medicine and NIH Collaboration: The Partnership between NIH and Academic Medicine (Zerhouni): http://www.aamc.org/research/ftp/briefings.htm
Webcast of presentation available.
NIH Fiscal Year 2006 Budget Request: http://appropriations.senate.gov/hearmarkups/Zerhouni_sStatementfinalFY2006.htm
"The American taxpayer generously invests $96 per person, per year in the NIH for the future health of our country. To give a sense of perspective about our task, I look at the total $29 billion for NIH – nearly half the discretionary funding for all of HHS—and I know I need to make sure that such a large investment is used in a strategic and systematic way to maximize the chances that better treatments and cures are rapidly developed to stem the rising burden of disease, as health care costs consume over $5,500 per person per year and are rising. NIH is currently using this investment for research to attack hundreds of common diseases and an estimated 6,000 rare diseases or conditions that affect approximately 25 million people in the United States -- diseases and disorders that may strike any of us, our parents, our children or our friends. In recent years, we have taken on new challenges such as biodefense."
Posted by pfa at March 7, 2006 10:15 AM