AIDS Popularity Leads to Unfair Disease Funding
In the race against curing diseases, is it a popularity contest? If you take
a look at the funding distributions of the National Institutes of Health
(NIH), you'd probably say "without question."
Whether you or a loved one have been diagnosed with a life-threatening
disease or not, one can hardly ignore the staggering statistics on disease
funding by the NIH. Almost 2.8 billion dollars are going to AIDS research in
2003, while 16 other diseases - which kill many thousands more Americans
than AIDS yearly - are only receiving a small fraction of the government's
dollars.
AIDS has become the "in" disease. Support among the Hollywood elite,
politicians and the wealthy has become almost a fad.
The AIDS activists don't want you to know their disease is no longer
epidemic in the USA and they continue to press for more funding - and to
their credit, their efforts have accomplished phenomenal feats in the fight
against AIDS. Just look at the numbers - deaths from AIDS have plummeted 72%
in the USA since 1995. That's why it's time to redirect funding to diseases
that are more deserving and currently receiving millions, or even billions,
less than AIDS.
For example, diabetes kills more Americans than AIDS and breast cancer
combined, yet the NIH is spending $5,500 on every patient identified as
having AIDS while spending $75 on each diabetic. And heart disease - which
strikes over 700,000 yearly compared to 14,132 from AIDS - receives almost ¾
of a Billion dollars less than AIDS.
Funding needs to be fair and equitable for all diseases. The NIH must look
at prorating funds based on a disease's mortality rate, and as a secondary
factor, degree of suffering. The disease that kills the most Americans
should get the most research funding, and so on.
This issue is especially sensitive in our country, which is very tuned into
the world of AIDS. But when the AIDS death rate in newly infected patients
has dropped 97% in the state of California, it's time to start
congratulating AIDS organizations for their successes while shifting
research dollars from AIDS to diseases like lung disease, prostate disease,
Alzheimer's Disease, brain disease and diabetes.
To view a list of the 16 diseases that kill more Americans than AIDS, go to
www.ProrateNIH.com.
