Restless Legs Syndrome Foundation Blog

November 21, 2022

Dear Honorable Chairs and Ranking Members:

On behalf of the 63 member organizations of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) Constituency Group, we support your efforts to finalize a Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 omnibus funding bill and include a robust investment in the National Institutes of Health, including at least $3.946 billion for the NHLBI. A timely FY 2023 appropriation is vital to allow the NHLBI to continue addressing COVID-19 while maintaining progress on mission critical research addressing cardiovascular, respiratory, blood, and sleep related research priorities.

As you know, delays in regular annual appropriations funding make it challenging to launch major initiatives and pursue critical scientific opportunities to prevent and develop new treatments for heart, lung, blood, and sleep diseases and conditions. This tends to impede our rapidly evolving understanding of cardiovascular disease, including heart failure and congenital heart disease, novel therapies under development for lung diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma, and improved treatment of blood disorders such as sickle cell disease and hemophilia.

The best approach to sustaining incremental progress in research and discoveries is effective planning made possible by recurring, timely, and continuous appropriations. This certainty is critical to scientific advancement. Without regular annual appropriations funding, vital basic, clinical, and translational research opportunities to address critical needs related to the long-term impact of COVID-19 across heart, lung, blood, and sleep, including protection of our most vulnerable populations, are compromised, delayed, or potentially curtailed.

Without sustained annual appropriations, NHLBI will not be able to maintain the momentum associated with its spotlight on the disparate effect that COVID-19 and post-acute COVID-19 has had on vulnerable communities, to continue with research efforts aimed at identifying the causes of and contributors to health disparities, and develop more effective approaches to effectively address, reduce, and ultimately eliminate them. The pandemic also has underscored the need for significant investments in understanding, diagnosing, and treating lung disease as well as preserving lung health.

Given that cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of pregnancy-related deaths, NHLBI has also taken a lead role in working with others at NIH to support research to reduce the nation’s alarming rates of maternal mortality and morbidity, especially among women of color. Without sustained and timely annual funding, NHLBI’s programs focused on improving women’s health throughout the lifespan, including initiatives concentrated on maternal health disparities, will not keep pace with this epidemic.

New sleep research that focuses on risk prevention strategies associated with sleep loss such as hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and obesity is needed, especially in populations with relevant health disparities. The alarming growth of these comorbid factors since the onset of COVID-19 impact health related quality of life leading to further impacts on mental health, specifically depression, and suicidal ideation.

An FY 2023 appropriation of $3.946 billion for the NHLBI would allow the Institute to enhance current programs and pursue promising basic, translational, clinical, and prevention research to better diagnose, treat, and prevent these diseases.

Please contact Valerie Adelson with the American Thoracic Society at vadelson@thoracic.org or John Laughner with the American Heart Association at John.Laughner@heart.org if you have questions or need additional information. Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Valerie Adelson
Co-chair
NHLBI Constituency Group

John Laughner
Co-chair
NHLBI Constituency Group