CONTENTS Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Jan, 11, 1985, vol. 41, No. 1 Food and Drug Administration Drug Bulletin, Oct. 1985, vol. 15, No. 3. Centers for Disease Control.... Questions submitted by Senator William Proxmire. Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration Questions submitted by Senator William Proxmire.. Memorandums from John C. Petricciani, M.D., Director, Office of Biologics, National Center for Drugs and Biologics, Food and Drug Administration... Memorandums from Elaine C. Esber, M.D., Acting Director, Office of Biologics ACQUIRED IMMUNE DEFICIENCY SYNDROME [AIDS] RESEARCH FUNDING THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 1985 U.S. SENATE, SUBCOMMITTEE ON LABOR, HEALTH AND HUMAN, SERVICES, EDUCATION AND RELATED AGENCIES, Washington, DC. The subcommittee met at 9:30 a.m., in room SD-138, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Lowell P. Weicker, Jr. (chairman) presiding. Present: Senators Weicker, Stevens, and Burdick. Also present: Senator D'Amato. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES STATEMENT OF JAMES MASON, ACTING ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR HEALTH ACCOMPANIED BY: DR. JAMES WYNGAARDEN, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH DR. DONALD R. HOPKINS, ACTING DIRECTOR, CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL, AIDS EFFORTS DR. DONALD IAN MACDONALD, DIRECTOR, ALCOHOL, DRUG ABUSE, AND MENTAL HEALTH ADMINISTRATION DR. FRANK YOUNG, COMMISSIONER, FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION OVERVIEW AND SOCIETAL IMPACT-PRESENT AND FUTURE Senator WEICKER. The hearing will come to order. Today the subcommittee will receive an update on the public health challenge of AIDS. We do so in an environment of national uncertainty, uncertainty over the precise nature of AIDS, its risks and the sufficiency of Government's response to this epidemic. As with any serious problem that is compounded by lack of public knowledge, AIDS has provoked anger and concern among and between our citizens. There is no necessity for such nonsense. What is needed, as always, is steady hands on the wheel. That is the best contribution which laymen can make to science in this crisis. (1) For example, one groundless fear that I want to dispel at the outset is that there has been inadequate funding for AIDS research in public health efforts. This is absolutely false. Whatever has been requested by Government research scientists and the medical professionals has been provided and this will continue to be the case. Since chairing the subcommittee, the following sums have been appropriated specifically for AIDS: $61 million in fiscal year 1984; $108 million in fiscal year 1985; and $129 million approved for fiscal year 1986, and those figures are exclusive of the Food and Drug Administration. The resources of the Government of the United States, including the world's premier biomedical research entity, the National Institutes of Health, are and will continue to be marshaled with the complete and bipartisan support of the Congress and the administration. At present, this subcommittee has approved $129 million in AIDS funding for the fiscal year beginning next week, the full amount requested. If this hearing and subsequent research developments indicate additional funding is needed, it will be speedily and surely provided. That is our guarantee to the Nation. Indeed, if testimony today reveals any potential shortfall in funding, I will amend my own bill at markup next Tuesday. The greater fear, however, is generated by a lack of full understanding of the disease itself and its risks to our citizens. Today's witnesses, public and private, are among the most knowledgeable and most closely involved anywhere. They will establish a clear record of the current state of knowledge about AIDS and the future course of our research efforts. We most certainly do not have all the answers, but neither do all the questions remain unanswered. Indeed, for perhaps the first time in the history of mankind, we have an epidemic that has been identified, isolated, cloned all in 4 short years. With this remarkable knowledge in hand, we are now moving to test methods blocking the spread of AIDS and from there attacking the disease itself. Today we do not have the cure for AIDS, but neither do we have the ignorance of our ancestors who cast lepers in the sea and mentally ill in the dungeons. As our society presses the attack on AIDS with vigor and resoluteness, those among us who suffer this disease deserve understanding and help. We in the United States are one people, and by fact or law, there will be no pariahs among us. One last observation. I referred earlier to the money specifically appropriated to AIDS. This is exclusive of the billions of dollars that go each year to basic scientific research. It is that ongoing research which gives us the ability to protect and enhance life in the face of any threat or any opportunity. To use a football analogy, without basic research, the AIDS offense would have started on our own 1-yard line. Because much diverse knowledge was already in hand, we started on the 40. That is the lesson for future budgets and those who seek to cut moneys for biomedical research. Our first panel this morning is comprised of the top medical professionals in Government who are charged with responding to AIDS. I am very pleased to welcome you here this morning, and I would ask Dr. James Mason, the Acting Secretary of Health, to introduce his colleagues and begin with a review of the disease AIDS and its impact on society. PREPARED STATEMENTS Before you proceed, Dr. Mason, we will insert all the statements of all the HHS witnesses in the record in their entirety. [The statements follow:] |