The Ad Hoc Group for Medical Research issued the following statement
regarding the urgent need for emergency spending for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to
address both the COVID-19 pandemic and related disruptions to medical research:
The Ad Hoc Group for Medical Research strongly supports at least $15.5 billion in emergency
funding for the NIH as part of the next COVID-19 relief package, as included in the proposal led
by Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Richard Shelby and Labor-HHS-Education
Subcommittee Chair Roy Blunt, both to advance new COVID-19-related projects and to resume
pre-pandemic research addressing the full array of health challenges that patients face daily.
We urge lawmakers to finalize emergency funding for NIH as quickly as possible.
This funding level for NIH represents a critical, immediate investment, necessary to maximize
our nation’s capacity to quell the current crisis, take steps to prevent a recurrence of COVID-19
or the emergence of future pandemics, and sustain momentum in advances related to cancer,
Alzheimer’s disease, heart disease, addiction, and other existing threats. In addition to
improving people’s health and strengthening the nation’s resilience, a federal commitment to
research also can help strengthen the nation’s economic health during this challenging time.
We are grateful that both the Senate proposal and the House Health and Economic Recovery
Omnibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) Act recognize the need to invest emergency funding
in medical research, and we urge both chambers to work expeditiously to enact critical relief of
no less than $15.5 billion.
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The Ad Hoc Group for Medical Research is a coalition of over 330 patient and voluntary health groups,
medical and scientific societies, academic and research organizations, and industry. The Ad Hoc Group
has one mission: to enhance the federal investment in biomedical, behavioral, social, and population-
based research by increasing the funding for the National Institutes of Health.