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Health Research

The National Health Council supports increased federal funding for health research and innovation at the National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Food and Drug Administration, and through other agencies. Both individually and in concert with other organizations, the National Health Council has made numerous appeals to Congress.

NHC comments to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on its Phase II Transparency Report (July 20, 2010)

Comments on the NIH’s proposed development of a Genetic Testing Registry (July 15, 2010)
Letter in support of increasing access by extramural scientists to the NIH Clinical Center. (May 17, 2010)

Intellectual Property
Congress is considering the complex area of intellectual property (IP) law as it pertains to medications, including pharmaceuticals and biologics. The National Health Council believes that any IP legislation must better align intellectual property incentives with the needs of people with chronic conditions

• NHC letter to Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator supporting developing intellectual property policies that will improve access to safe, affordable therapies while fostering the development of new and better treatments and cures (March 24, 2010) 
   

Reagan-Udall Foundation
The Reagan-Udall Foundation was authorized as a part of the Food and Drug Administration Amendments Act, signed into law in 2007. The Foundation, which has yet to be funded, is designed to be a public-private partnership to modernize medical product development, accelerate innovation, and enhance product safety by adding private funds to the limited budget of the Food and Drug Administration. The National Health Council has written to Congress in support of this effort. 

Addressing Unmet Needs of Patients
Health care technologies, including drugs, devices, and diagnostics, have improved the diagnosis and treatment of many diseases. Today, advances in science continue to hold promise for the development of new treatment strategies for many other conditions in the future. Billions of dollars are spent annually on research and development and clinical trials to develop new healthcare products, yet patients may not be reaping the full return on investment. The creation of new treatments in both the public and private sector is vital to addressing these unmet medical needs.

The National Health Council seeks to ensure that innovative treatment therapies are continually being developed, in the hope that each new change can improve health and bring patients closer to prevention, early diagnosis, and even a cure. Working with outside consultants, the NHC will conduct focus group studies, message testing, case studies, policy analysis and develop new legislation to promote such research.

Budget Allocation
National Health Council and a coalition of nearly 100 groups oppose increasing the set aside from federal research agency budgets for the Small Business Innovation Research program because the change will result in funding cuts for peer-reviewed research conducted by other organizations.