The National Institutes of Health is slated for a flat budget request of almost $31 billion in the Administration’s budget released today.  If Congress approves this budget request, the NIH will continue to fund only a modest fraction of approved and meritorious grants.

The nation’s lead public health agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would experience a small cut to $5.726 billion, although budget allocations by program vary significantly.  Global health at the CDC is recommended for a $15.3 million increase, while the CDC Office for TB Elimination is slated for a cut of $4.6 million.   CDC’s TB shop houses the TB Clinical Trials Consortium (TBTC) – a network of 20 clinical trial sites.  The TBTC is engaged in important work to test a shorter drug regimen for TB treatment, a potential breakthrough that would have enormous implications in developing countries where the TB rates are the highest.  Domestic HIV prevention programs funded through the CDC would enjoy a $40 million increase in the Administration’s budget—resources that could be utilized to implement the targeted HIV prevention strategy outlined in the National HIV/AIDS Strategy.