NIH faces budget pressure

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) annual budget is expected to increase at a much slower annual rate next year, after several years of "substantial" growth according to the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease.

For the budget that has been proposed for fiscal 2006, "we are seeing a level of increase for virtually all disciplines at NIH of less than 1 per cent in an area in which biomedical research inflationary index is greater than 3 per cent and in which the cost of grants generally increase by approximately 5 per cent," Dr Anthony Fauci told attendees of the 12th Annual Retroviral Conference. "So if you do some simple math, we have an issue."

HIV research to be reconsidered

In general, HIV/AIDS has done well in terms of funding relative to other important diseases, Fauci pointed out. The NIH budget for biomedical research in HIV/AIDS "has been 2.9 billion, which is greater than 10 per cent of the entire budget."

The question is how "to face the global challenge of infectious disease in general, and HIV in particular as a prototype of a catastrophic epidemic that is showing no end, when we are living now - at least from the biomedical research standpoint - in an arena of fiscal constraint." It is therefore "imperative" that the scientific community works together to develop a "21st-century research vision" to meet the ongoing needs of research and to rapidly apply research findings to clinical practice, he said.

"We've got to, in a very open, transparent way, to re-examine our entire portfolio and look at it because Washington - not just the Administration, but also the Congress and people who have been our greatest supporters - are saying that there really are no entitlements now," and there are many other problems that are vying for public attention, such as the possibility of pandemic flu and SARS. In terms perceived of infectious disease threats, "AIDS is not the only show in town," said Fauci.

The HIV/AIDS researchers will have to make the most of the money through more efficient cooperation, collaboration, and avoidance of unnecessary duplication. "We need to do things better," he said. To this end, numerous initiatives are planned and some are underway. Some of these include the formation of the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise, a virtual consortium, and the reexamination of the operation of HIV/AIDS Clinical Trials Networks.

"It's going to be up to the scientific community to re-examine itself to make sure that what we are doing is truly the greatest bang for the buck," he said.