Report: NIH and Global Health Research are a Major Boon to All State...( NIH research awards to states in ...),Health

NIH research awards to states in 2007 created more than 350,000 new jobs, generated more than $18 billion in wages from those new jobs, and spurred more than $50 billion in business activity nationwide

Report Says Flat Funding for NIH Threatens New Health Research, U.S. Medical Leadership, and State Economies

WASHINGTON, June 18 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The National Institutes of Health has a legacy of great medical accomplishments, including victories over diseases like measles, rubella, and whooping cough. Now a report from a national health care advocacy organization reveals how NIH funding to states creates jobs, helps develop communities that are focused on advanced biomedical research, and sustains America's leadership in medical research.

Titled "In Your Own Backyard," the report from Families USA, the national organization for health care consumers, details the actual benefits of NIH research awards to all 50 states. In 2007, the NIH awarded almost $23 billion in research grants and contracts. This funding created more than 350,000 new jobs nationwide, generated more than $18 billion in wages from those new jobs, and spurred more than $50 billion in business activity in the states.

The Families USA report, however, describes a downside. Several years of flat funding of the NIH by Congress is now crippling research into global health threats, stunting economic activity, and jeopardizing U.S. preeminence in biomedical research.

"The importance of NIH funding in communities across the nation can't be overstated," Ron Pollack, Executive Director of Families USA, said today. "NIH awards to states spur vital medical research, while at the same time injecting millions of dollars into local economies, creating jobs and new wages. This should be called a win-win-win, because it helps our state economies, our nation's health, and the health of people around the globe."

Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, Director of the NIH's Natio
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