Cancer researchers and advocacy groups are fighting the Bush administration's plans to cut funding for the National Cancer Institute this year. Researchers have launched an Op-Ed campaign and cancer groups are planning an email and internet campaign to convince lawmakers to abandon the idea. The cuts themselves aren't particularly high--overall funding will drop from $4.75 billion to $4.5 billion, but critics say the move would be a symbolic defeat. Much of the money that could have gone to support research is moving to anti-terrorism programs and spending on avian flu preparedness, which has gone from virtually zero to a multi-billion dollar budget item in the course of a year. Officials at the National Cancer Institute say funding at a small number of cancer research programs could be impacted.
- read this article [1] from the Baltimore Sun
Links:
[1] http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/health/bal-te.cancer30mar30,0,7563134.story?coll=bal-health-headlines