Medical research funding vital

Dear Editor:

Next January, unless Congress takes action, support for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) will be automatically cut by about $2.4 billion. During the August recess, the American Heart Association left information with Congressman Jeff Landry and urged him to protect the NIH from these devastating budget cuts.

Research is a critical investment in America’s health. Roughly 85 percent of NIH grants support laboratories and research centers in every state. Here in Louisiana, NIH awards $166.8 million for research which funds 4,397 jobs. Of those jobs 343, would be lost if there were a 7.8 percent reduction in non-defense, discretionary spending.

NIH-supported research also preserves our nation’s role as the world leader in medical research. If we continue to flat fund or actually reduce NIH funding, we will lose that coveted status along with the medical innovations that come with it. 

Most importantly, research saves lives. Heart disease and stroke were once virtual death sentences. But since 1940, research has reduced mortality from heart disease by more than 60 percent and from stroke by 70 percent. We can only continue this amazing progress if we urge Congress to make the NIH a national priority and protect it from the “sequester.”

Catherine Straatmann,

American Heart Association volunteer,

Houma