ASH Statement in Support of Increased Health Research Funding in Proposed 2023 Federal Budget

Society applauds request for additional funding for sickle cell disease research program

(WASHINGTON, Mar. 29, 2022) — The Biden administration yesterday released its proposed fiscal year 2023 budget. The budget includes a request for $4.5 million to fund the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Sickle Cell Data Collection program, which collects data on the complications, treatments, health outcomes, and health access of individuals living with sickle cell disease (SCD). The administration’s request also includes proposed funding for the CDC, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to enhance a range of cancer-related programs as part of the relaunched Cancer Moonshot that President Biden announced earlier this year.

In response to the news, ASH President Jane N. Winter, MD, of the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine issued the following statement:

"ASH is grateful to the Biden administration for showing its commitment to people living with blood disorders. The proposed funding for programs in the relaunched Cancer Moonshot, which has the ambitious goal of ending cancer as we know it today, sends a strong message of support to those in the cancer community.

We also applaud the administration’s dedication to the SCD community through its request for $4.5 million in funding for the CDC Sickle Cell Data Collection program. As a $1.5 million increase over the funding committed to the program in FY 2022, this request highlights the administration’s support for this important initiative.

As a Society, we believe that the collection of critical information on individuals with SCD is key to improving our understanding of SCD and to improving access to quality care for all those living with the disease. Currently, the program supports data collection and surveillance efforts in 11 states to better understand the prevalence of SCD, how people with SCD access the health care system, and the social determinants that affect health outcomes in the states.

With this increase in funding, the CDC will be able to continue to support SCD research and surveillance in these states, and to begin analyses of critical gaps in knowledge such as SCD and COVID-19, causes and measures of mortality, reproductive health, specialty care, social vulnerability, and more. The greater funding level will also bolster efforts to educate patients, families, and providers about SCD.

ASH encourages members of Congress to come together to pass an annual federal budget that includes these levels of dedicated funding for cancer and sickle cell disease research. We look forward to continuing to work with Congress to achieve this goal."

Resources

The American Society of Hematology (ASH) (www.hematology.org) is the world’s largest professional society of hematologists dedicated to furthering the understanding, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disorders affecting the blood. For more than 60 years, the Society has led the development of hematology as a discipline by promoting research, patient care, education, training, and advocacy in hematology. ASH publishes Blood (www.bloodjournal.org), the most cited peer-reviewed publication in the field, and Blood Advances (www.bloodadvances.org), an online, peer-reviewed open-access journal.

Contact:
Leah Enser, American Society of Hematology
lenser@hematology.org, 202-552-4927