In a promising development for our community, the House Appropriations Committee recently approved the fiscal year 2023 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies bill, which contains significant funding increases for key ovarian cancer programs.
- The bill provides a massive boost in funding for the ovarian cancer education and awareness programs at Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It sets funding for both Johanna’s Law and the Ovarian Cancer Control Initiative at $2 million more than current funding levels. This sum represents a sizeable jump from the $500,000 increases that were approved for FY22. Funding is set at $12.5 million for Johanna’s Law, which supports a variety of programs, research projects and activities aimed at educating healthcare providers and the general population alike about gynecologic cancers. The bill also provides $14.5 million for the Ovarian Cancer Control Initiative, a program that monitors demographic data and other factors at the population level around ovarian cancer diagnosis, treatment, and survival.
- Funding for the NCI is set at $7.4 billion, a $466 million or 6.7% increase over the FY22 level. This sum includes $216 million for the Cancer Moonshot.
- Funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) overall is set at $47.5 billion, a $2.5 billion or 5.6% increase over the FY22 level.
- The bill provides a much larger increase in funding for ARPA-H than was expected. Funding is set at $2.75 billion, a $1.75 billion or 175% increase over the FY22 level. ARPA-H, Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health, is a brand-new department designed to advance biomedical breakthroughs ranging from molecular to societal. It is modeled after DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, which led to the Internet and GPS. It is still not known where this new agency will be housed.
We urge the Senate to support these same FY23 program funding levels, which can make a crucial difference in the fight against ovarian cancer.
Thank you to all who continue to advocate on behalf of our community. Your voices are making a difference!
