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Congress Passes Bill to Increase National Institutes of Health Funding by $2 Billion

Background: Ensuring increased funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has been one of MDA’s top 2015 policy priorities. Through targeted efforts in Washington, DC and with strong support from advocates across the country, MDA, along with many other organizations, has urged Congress to boost funding for NIH. Today, Congress passed the FY 2016 spending bill with a $2 billion increase for NIH— representing the largest increase in NIH funding in more than a decade.

Increased support for NIH is critical, as robust medical research funding is essential to finding treatments and cures for muscular dystrophy, ALS, SMA and other neuromuscular diseases.

Statement from Kristin Stephenson, MDA’s Vice President Policy & Advocacy: “We are grateful for the efforts of every member of Congress who supported increased NIH funding, and to everyone who advocated on behalf of this important issue. Our community urgently needs safe and effective therapies and additional funding for NIH will help fund critical research essential to our families. Ensuring a substantial increase in NIH funding for 2016 has been a significant effort that has brought many organizations, individuals and stakeholders together, and we look forward to continuing to advocate for NIH.”

Claire Orphan
Media Relations Manager
Muscular Dystrophy Association
corphan@mdausa.org