AIDS RESEARCH: More funds, coherent strategy needed

The National Institutes of Health has responded with unprecedented speed to the crisis of the acquired immune deficiency syndrome epidemic. "Never has so much been learned so quickly about any disease," William H. Danforth, chancellor of Washington University, St. Louis, told the House Government Operations Subcommittee on Human Resources & Intergovernmental Relations last week. But, Danforth also stressed, as the AIDS research program stands on the verge of its second decade, it needs more funds—perhaps as much as 25% more than the $805 million it is getting this year. And it needs a coherent research strategy. The hearings were called by the subcommittee chairman, Rep. Ted Weiss (D.-N.Y.), to review the results of a yearlong study of NIH's AIDS research program carried out by a panel chaired by Danforth and issued last week. The panel was organized by the Institute of Medicine, an affiliate of the National Academy of Sciences, at NIH's request. ...