The U.S. House of Representatives has passed reauthorization bill (HR 3162), legislation which includes a one-year extension of the Type 1 Diabetes Special Funding Program at the National Institutes of Health and the Indian Health Service.The American Diabetes Association describes the inclusion of these programs and passage of the bill as a great first step toward the goal of a five-year extension and a nominal increase in funding to grow these vital programs.
From 1998 until next year, the special type 1 funding program will have provided $1.14 billion in research funds to support type 1 diabetes research. The House action is a step toward extending that funding beyond next year.
The program is coordinated by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, and the program planning and implementation involves several other Institutes of the National Institutes of Health, as well as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, and the ADA.
This is only a portion of the bill. It also covers a plethora of issues related to children's health care that has led to a veto threat by President Bush that is well-covered by the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute.
The politics of health care policy and research funding: to be continued ...
