Bush budget shortchanges life-saving research

AHA President Daniel Jones, M.D., said in a recent statement that President Bush’s $3.1 trillion budget proposal would cut resources for cardiovascular research and could reverse recent advances in the fight against heart disease and stroke.“We’re making steady progress in combating heart disease and stroke, but that momentum will be lost if research and prevention programs fall victim to heartless budget cuts. We are deeply troubled that funding for heart and stroke research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is below medical research inflation for the sixth year in a row,” Jones said.
Jones added that as the U.S. population ages, the need for cardiovascular research will only become greater.

“Cardiovascular disease deaths are expected to skyrocket as baby boomers age. Shortsighted budget cuts will not only roll back the progress we’ve made to reduce death and disability from cardiovascular diseases, it will escalate a public health crisis that could be avoided with commonsense solutions,” Jones said.http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3053596_________________