(July 6, 2001) - In March I traveled to Washington DC to meet other members of the Coalition of Patient Advocates for Skin Disease Research (CPA-SDR). This annual meeting at the capitol is organized to bring together all the small skin disease groups to have a larger and stronger voice at the government level.
I had the privilege of touring the skin biology lab at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and meeting with Dr. Steve Katz, director of the National Institutes of Arthritis, Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS).
Members of the CPA-SDR, the Society of Investigative Dermatology and the American Academy of Dermatology broke into small groups to visit congressmen and senators. Our group was called the NIAMS Coalition and the primary purpose of our visits was four-fold. The first two purposes was to ask for support to increase the NIH budget by 16.5% and the NIAMS budget by 16.5%. Supporting this initiative is very important because the NIH is where most of our important research originates. Research that involves any new discovery for any skin disease is beneficial to all skin diseases. Since skin diseases are so closely related, eventually it will filter across the board and possibly lead to discoveries in ichthyosis. It is critical for fundamental research to be continued as well. Even though we all want our particular disease to be the focus of increased research, it is difficult to study any particular disease is we do not know the basic function of skin cells.
The third purpose of our visit was to ask for support to fund a workshop that will collect accurate data about the cost of skin disease in the country. The last professional study of these costs was performed in 1979 and funding for a workshop would allow these figures to be re-tabulated. Current estimates include: $215 billion for musculoskeletal conditions, $13.8 billion for osteoporosis and related fractures, $82.5 billion for arthritis and $22.3 billion for skin diseases.
The final purpose of our visit was to ask for funding of the Clinical Research Enhancement Act that was passed last year. This act allows for a loan repayment plan for doctors who have just graduated medical school. Recent estimates indicate that new doctors incur over $95,000 of debt before they graduate. Many of these doctors have young families to support and they choose the higher-paying career path in private practice. This loan repayment plan is intended to encourage more doctors to choose a career path in research.
