“Shocked” was how the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) described its reaction to the Trump administration's $5.8 billion cut to the FY 2018 NIH budget.

“At a time when extraordinary progress is being made against cancer and many other diseases, these draconian cuts would set research back for decades and also threaten the careers of an entire generation of young investigators working in labs and clinics all over the country who are committed to improving public health and saving lives,” it said in its blistering statement.

The group challenged Congress “to stand firmly” against the proposed financing.

“We urge them to maintain the momentum they initiated in FY 2016 when they provided the NIH with a $2 billion funding increase so as to ensure that medical research remains a national priority.”

Calling predictable, sustained and “robust” funding for NIH “absolutely required” for cancer care, the AACR said the administration proposal would “severely jeopardize” the progress against cancer and stated that “the proposal must be stopped in its tracks.”

The organization is part of a groundswell of health care professionals in opposition to the cuts.

The Ad Hoc Group for Medical Research, a coalition of more than 200 patient and voluntary health groups, medical and scientific societies, academic and research organizations, and industry, also issued a statement on the president’s budget blueprint.

"The Administration’s proposal to gut funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) by $5.8 billion or nearly 20 percent below current levels would drastically slow progress on research to find treatments and cures for patients nationwide,” it stated.

Calling the proposed cuts of “unprecedented magnitude,” it warned that it would not just “affect every American, including patients, their families, researchers,” but would also have an economic impact in the many communities where NIH investment spurs growth.

In an appeal to congressional leaders, it noted, “as the president eloquently noted in his joint address to Congress last month, millions of Americans in every community await new or improved treatments and diagnostics for a wide range of diseases. Medical research supported by the NIH plays an irreplaceable role in achieving their hopes of a healthier future.”

It stressed that there is a long history of bipartisan support for investments in the NIH, and that “by supporting research at universities, medical schools, teaching hospitals, and other institutions across the country, NIH also has fueled local and regional economies by creating jobs and catalyzing new industries.”

At risk, it suggested, is the leadership role that the country now holds in medical science. “To keep 'America First,' we must bolster, rather than undermine, the nation’s medical research capacity,” it warned.

The Ad Hoc Group urged congressional rejection of what it called “the inexplicable and impractical proposed cuts to NIH.”

It stated that it hoped that Congress would override these severe cuts, and that it planned to work “with lawmakers to finalize a fiscal year 2017 spending package with $34.1 billion for NIH – as approved nearly unanimously by the Senate Appropriations Committee in June 2016.”

In addition, it urged lawmakers to not only continue, but increase by $2 billion, the NIH budget in FY 2018.

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