ProrateNIH's Founder named
National Public Citizen of the Year

The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) has named ProrateNIH's Founder, Dr. Richard Darling, DDS, the National Public Citizen of the Year. The award is given to the outstanding citizen whose accomplishments exemplify the values and mission of professional social work. Dr. Darling is being honored for his volunteer work helping patients with liver disease and those waiting for a lifesaving organ transplant. Dr. Darling will be receiving this award in Washington, DC at the NASW Annual Leadership Meeting.

2004 Budget Proposal for NIH Decimates Applied Research Funding Increases

The newspaper for America's physicians, amednews.com, reported in February that after five years of 14% and 15% annual increases that resulted in a near doubling of the NIH budget, the President proposed only a 1.8% increase. ( http://www.ama-assn.org/sci-pubs/amnews/pick_03/hlsb0224.htm) However, in the 2004 budget resolution passed by Congress, non-Medicare HHS spending would increase only .3% (3 tenths of one percent), which many say is a net decrease due to higher expenses.  (http://www.ama-assn.org/sci-pubs/amnews/pick_03/gvsc0505.htm) This makes the national call for proration of NIH research allocations to provide equity even more urgent.

March on D.C. for Hepatitis C Awareness

Hepatitis C's Movement for Awareness Organization is once again sponsoring the annual March on DC for Hepatitis C Awareness. Events begin 5/22 with a pre-march rally at the Holiday Inn Downtown. A silent auction will be held to benefit awareness and the National March will be to Freedom Plaza on 5/23 from 1-4PM. ProrateNIH's Founder, Dr. Darling, will be one of the featured speakers. For more information please visit: http://www.hcvets.com/forum_public/hma/disc.htm

AIDS Deaths Continue to Plummet

Deaths of newly infected patients in California in 2002 totaled 242, a 97% decrease from it's high in 1992. California deaths reported in January--March 2003 total 9 with 160 new cases. http://www.dhs.ca.gov/aids/Statistics/pdf/Stats2003/Mar03stats.pdf

In the NIH  2003 research budget, the amount of the increase for AIDS to 2.8 Billion is five times that for Alzheimer's Disease, 3.5 times that for breast cancer, 7 times that for lung cancer, 5 times that for prostate cancer, 4 times that for diabetes, 3 times that for heart disease, 35 times that for hepatitis C. All of these kill more Americans than AIDS.

Newsletter Focus Disease: Hepatitis C (HCV)

• Hepatitis C is deadly: estimated HCV deaths by the CDC are 30% greater than AIDS deaths in its latest reporting period

• Hepatitis C is serious: HCV is the number one cause of liver transplant

• Hepatitis C is growing: The CDC estimates 1.8% of the population is infected with HCV. May 11th population =  290,943,553 x 1.8% =  5,236,984 Americans with HCV. Compare to 506,154 identified to be living with HIV/AIDS

• Hispanics: Latinos have more than a 40 percent greater chance of being infected with hepatitis C than the general population (Latino Organization for Liver Awareness)

• Afro-Americans: Afro-Americans are the most severely affected race due to their predominately having the strain (Genotype 1) that is least resistant to treatment.

• Fairness? The NIH is spending only $20 on each patient with HCV  in research in 2003 versus $5,500 on each AIDS patient

• Hepatitis C and all other diseases except HIV/AIDS would receive significantly larger research allocations under ProrateNIH's policy
  
  The FAIR Foundation
  Dr. Richard Darling, DDS, Founder
  P.O. Box 11991
  Palm Desert, CA 92211
  Ph: 760-200-2766
  E-mail: FAIR@dc.rr.com
  
  Prorate Mission Statement: NIH research allocations shall be allocated based on a disease's mortality rate. If you have a disease that is killing the most Americans, it shall receive the largest allocation, if it is killing the second largest number, it shall receive the second largest research funding and so on. Secondary factors insure diseases with lower mortality rates but that produce great suffering shall also receive increased research funding