There is much stir going on in the United States regarding the funding cuts that President Donald Trump is imposing. But what exactly is he cutting, and why is it a big deal? Let’s begin to break this situation down.
NIH is the National Institute of Health and is the largest public donor to biomedical research across the country. Their primary goal is to promote research to keep the public healthy in a multitude of areas, varying from cancer research to allergies.
President Donald Trump proposed a budget for the next fiscal year that would slash funding. According to the official NIH government website, the budget would lose 18% of its funding from last year. This would cut funding from $31.8 billion to $26 billion.
Obviously, there are budget readjustments every year, but this one could be incredibly damaging to the research community. According to the NIH website, these budget cuts would affect many institutions, such as the National Cancer Institute, the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
In addition to monetary cuts to health organizations, research funding will shrink. Many colleges and universities rely on NIH funding to enhance research in the medical field. This would halt the progress that’s been made on research.
The University of Pittsburgh receives about $73 million dollars from NIH to help fund its incredible research abilities. If this new fiscal policy were to be implemented, universities across the country would have to scrounge up millions to make up for the deficit. Lay-offs, increased tuition, and cuts to more programs would be possible solutions, but are not ethical solutions.
My question is, as a country who wishes to stay on the world stage with our research abilities, why would cutting such funding even be a question?