Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program (CDMRP)
Over 20,000 veterans being treated through the VA have a diagnosis of MS and over 5,000 of those have been deemed service-connected. An epidemiologic study found an unexpected, two-fold increase of MS within six years in Kuwait following the first Gulf War. The CDMRP is a peer-reviewed program that funds high-risk, high-reward research. It is funded through the Department of Defense (DoD). Dollars for the CDMRP are added every year during the budget process by members of Congress, in response to requests by advocates and disease survivors. In total, MS research has received more than $20 million in funding through the CDMRP over the past few federal budget cycles.
Request: The National MS Society urges Congress to support $10 million for MS research in the CDMRP for Fiscal Year 2013.
Click here to see which members of Congress support funding for MS research in the CDMRP in Fiscal Year 2013.
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the country’s premier institution for medical research and the single largest source of biomedical funding in the world. The National MS Society regards NIH as an invaluable partner to finding additional treatments and a potential cure for MS. NIH has helped make significant progress in understanding MS-lesions, analyzing how the immune system responds to different stimulus and providing the basic research to develop the MS therapies. Approximately $122 million of FY 2011 NIH appropriated funding was directed to MS-related research.
Request: The National MS Society urges Congress to continue its investment in innovative medical research that can help prevent, treat, and cure diseases, such as multiple sclerosis (MS) by providing at least $32B funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Fiscal Year 2013.
Click here to see which members of Congress support $32B for the NIH in Fiscal Year 2013.
Lifespan Respite Care Program (LCRP)
In 2006, President Bush signed the Lifespan Respite Care Act into law. According to a 2011 AARP report, 61.6 million family caregivers provided care at some point during 2009 and the value of their uncompensated services was approximately $450 billion a year. LCRP provides grants to state agencies to maximize existing resources and ensure that respite is available and accessible to family caregivers including those caring for people with MS by establishing or enhancing statewide respite systems. States are mandated to: provide planned and emergency respite services, train and recruit workers and volunteers, offer information to caregivers about support services, and assist caregivers in gaining access to services.
Request: The National MS Society urges Congress to provide $5 million for the Lifespan Respite Care Program in Fiscal Year 2013 and to reauthorize the program by passing H.R. 3266.
Click here to see which members of Congress support $5 million for the LCRP in Fiscal Year 2013.
