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AAMC Applauds Senate Action on Specter-Harkin Amendment

For Immediate Release

Press Release

Contact: Retha Sherrod
202-828-0975
rsherrod@aamc.org

Washington, D.C., March 17, 2006 - Jordan J. Cohen, M.D., president of the AAMC (Association of American Medical Colleges), issued the following comments today on the Senate's passage of the Specter-Harkin amendment, which adds $7 billion to the FY 2007 budget for priority health and education programs:

"On behalf of the nation's medical schools and teaching hospitals, the AAMC would like to thank Senators Specter and Harkin for taking the lead to restore critical funding to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and other essential health programs.

The AAMC has been very concerned about the administration's proposal to freeze the NIH budget at a level that is more than 11 percent below the 2003 funding level in constant dollars.

Medical research has a track record of discovering new knowledge and treatments that improve health and save lives. Because of research, death rates from heart disease and stroke have fallen by 40 and 51 percent, respectively over the past 30 years, and the overall five-year survival rate for childhood cancers has risen to nearly 80 percent.

The AAMC is pleased that members of the Senate took the first step to increase America's investment in research through the NIH. We encourage the House to follow the Senate's example, as quickly as possible, and increase funding for the NIH and other critically important health and education programs."

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The Association of American Medical Colleges is a not-for-profit association representing all 129 accredited U.S. and 17 accredited Canadian medical schools; nearly 400 major teaching hospitals and health systems, including 68 Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers; and 94 academic and scientific societies. Through these institutions and organizations, the AAMC represents 109,000 faculty members, 67,000 medical students, and 104,000 resident physicians. Additional information about the AAMC and U.S. medical schools and teaching hospitals is available at www.aamc.org/newsroom.