"The importance of federal research investment in priming the pipeline for other sources of research funding cannot be underestimated," said the Honorable John Edward Porter, chair of Research!America. "The U.S. government's contributions to basic science have made our nation the world leader in medical and scientific discovery - a position at risk if federal funding does not keep pace at least with biomedical inflation."
The combined health research budgets of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and other federal agencies were essentially flat from 2005 to 2006, maintaining a trend that began in 2004. In 2006, the largest federal agency that funds health-related research, the NIH, saw its budget remain flat for the third year in a row, at $28.5 billion.
Industry R&D spending, which has for several years exceeded federal sources, increased only slightly from $61 billion in 2005 to $64.5 billion in 2006. However, this growth is overshadowed by the fact that a leveling out of public funding has in the past led to a leveling out of private funding. Health research funded by universities, independent research institutes, voluntary health associations, foundations and state and local governments combined remained nearly flat between 2005 and 2006, at $13.7 billion in 2006 and almost $13 billion in 2005.
"With an aging generation of baby boomers, new health challenges linked to globalization, and an obesity epidemic, we cannot afford to let this trend continue," said Mary Woolley, president of Research!America. "Americans see science as important to our health, competitiveness, education system, and standard of living - our nation's leaders need to fund research accordingly."
