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New federal government figures are bad news for psoriasis patients
(February 21, 2006) Psoriasis Cure Now, a nonprofit patient advocacy group, today announced that new research funding figures released by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) reveal that psoriasis patients continue to miss out on the groundbreaking research conducted by the NIH. The figures for the recently ended Fiscal Year 2005 show that while NIH funding has doubled since 1995, even after inflation, psoriasis research funding at NIH’s skin disease institute actually fell by more than 20%, including a decline last year.
“When we visit with Congressional offices, we are told again and again about the historic doubling of biomedical research funding that has occurred in the last decade,” said Michael Paranzino, president of Psoriasis Cure Now. “But for the as many as 7.5 million Americans with psoriasis, this doubling of funding at NIH is a cruel joke, because psoriasis research has actually been decimated during this time. People with psoriasis, and their loved ones, must step up and make their voices heard to get this reversed, or this incurable and often debilitating disease will continue to devastate lives for generations to come.”
Psoriasis Cure Now today informed Congress of these figures and launched a new letter writing campaign from their web site. From that site, concerned Americans can write their lawmakers demanding that the federal government begin funding psoriasis research fairly.
According to data provided by the NIH, psoriasis research at the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) was $4.72 million in 1995 and $4.75 million in 2005, a 0.5% increase nominally, and a 22% decrease after inflation is taken into account. During the same time, NIH funding soared from $11.3 billion to $28.6 billion, a 153.5% nominal increase, and a 98% increase after inflation. Government funding for psoriasis research is less than one dollar per patient annually, a tiny fraction of the amount spent on other diseases of comparable severity and impact.
“Congress will be disappointed to hear that more than 15,000 constituents with psoriasis in every Congressional District continue to be shortchanged by federal research programs,” Paranzino added. “We need our lawmakers to help us as we ask for simple fairness.”
Psoriasis is an incurable, non-contagious disease of the immune system that can first strike at any age, causing painful skin lesions, and often, arthritic symptoms. A 1999 study found that psoriasis causes reductions in physical and mental functioning comparable to that seen in diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, depression and other diseases. Psoriasis costs the U.S. economy billions annually.
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