(Washington, DC) On March 28, the Administration released the President’s FY23 budget request. The National Alliance for Eye and Vision Research (NAEVR) supports the statement issued by the Ad Hoc Group for Medical Research – of which it is a member – expressing concern that the budget request for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) does not sufficiently address the needs of the Institutes.
NAEVR recognizes that the Administration used FY21 enacted level funding as the base for their FY23 budget requests resulting in an intent to increase funding, however, we are concerned that the investment for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and specifically the National Eye Institute (NEI) falls short of the Institute’s ability to respond to the research needs of today and to improve the outcomes of patients in the future.
“While NAEVR appreciates the intent of the president’s FY23 budget request to increase funding from the known FY21 enacted level, we’re concerned that the increases for NEI and NIH leave us behind in the ability to invest in the research that will improve outcomes for patients today and tomorrow,” said Dan Ignaszewski, Executive Director of NAEVR. “We recognize that the President’s budget request is a marker, and NAEVR will continue to work with Congress to advocate for increases beyond those outlined in the President’s request to build on the increases included in the FY22 budget.”
NAEVR supports the request from the Ad Hoc Group for Medical Research for over $49 billion in base funding for NIH and any additional funds for ARPA-H supplement, rather than supplant core investment in NIH. As part of that request, NAEVR is requesting $950 million for the National Eye Institute. NAEVR is also supportive of the proposed use of mandatory funding to supplement NIH’s base funding to improve pandemic response and readiness. COVID-19 has continued to impact research and our society, and this focus to increase research is vital.
We look forward to working with the Administration and Congress to ensure NIH and NEI are equipped with the resources necessary to continue to make progress against existing health challenges and can invest in research to provide the solutions of tomorrow.
