What's called for, as Senator Connie Mack, R-FL, proposes, is a doubling of the NIH budget over a five year period. Also needed is a reform of NIH's research priorities to emphasize conquering specific diseases as well as pure science and to give underfunded diseases the largest add-ons that are scientifically justified.
President Clinton, who's happy to preside over a ceremony after someone like Gingrich has done the heavy lifting, has the dismal record on NIH funding. He recommended a mere 2.6 percent NIH increase for this year -- and only 2 percent for the institute that oversees diabetes -- which Senator Arlon Specter, R-PA, is determined to raise to 7.5 percent in the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Such annual increases, like Gingrich's rifle-shot at diabetes, aren't a substitute for a major push on biomedical research. That's worth bipartisan action next year.
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