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The Coalition to Protect Research is a coalition of organizations interested in promoting public health through research. Our organizations represent scientists, physicians, health care providers, patients, and advocates that support federal investments in basic biomedical and behavioral research in human sexual development, sexual health, HIV/AIDS and sexually-transmitted diseases. Sexual health and behavior research is essential to providing a scientific foundation for sound public health prevention and intervention programs.
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The Scientific, Public Health, and Advocacy Community Reacts Take Action to Protect Peer Review and Sexual Health Research Sex-Related Research at NIH Addresses Critical Public Health Issues 2002 Surgeon General's Call to Action to Promote Sexual Health and Responsible Sexual Behavior ****** "When you look at the impact of sexually transmitted disease, you're talking about HIV/AIDS and many others that affect millions of people and their reproductive lives."
NIH Director Elias Zerhouni USA Today, Jan. 13, 2004
****** "When we looked at the public-health relevance, there was no question that these projects should have been funded and should continue to be funded." NIH Director Elias Zerhouni The Chronicle of Higher Education, 1/13/04 ****** "Decisions about medical research should be made by scientists, not by politicians promoting an ideological agenda.” Democratic House Leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi
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Background In July, just prior to the introduction of the amendment by Rep. Patrick Toomey (R-PA), several of the organizations within the behavioral and social science community, along with several women’s health organizations, began discussions on forming a coalition, “TCoalitin to Protect Research,” to monitor and support issues related to sexual research and health. The Consortium of Social Science Associations (COSSA) and the American Psychological Association (APA), are taking the lead to bring these communities together with other scientific, public health, and advocacy organizations to work to educate policymakers about the public health relevance of research into sexual health and behaviors and the value of utilizing this research to make sound public health policy. For more information about the Alliance contact: Angela Sharpe (COSSA) at (202) 842-3525 or Karen Studwell (APA) at (202) 336-5585. NIH Peer Review Threatened: House Barely Defeats Attempts to Stop NIH Grants Sexual Behavior Research at NIH Threatened Grants Targeted by House Amendment Transcript of House Floor Debate on the Amendment offered by Rep. Toomey See how your Representative voted Sexual Health Research Once Again an Issue; Rogers, Waxman Defend NIH Research Waxman Expresses "Outrage" Over 'Hit List;' The Scientific Community Reacts Sexual Health Grants Targeted By Conservative Group Rep. Henry Waxman's 10/27 letter to Sec'y Thompson
Rep. Henry Waxman's 10/28 letter to Sec'y Thompson
Rep. Tom Lantos 10/30 letter to Sec'y Thompson
Rep. Waxman’s Politics and Science website
Rep. Henry Waxman's 11/13 letter to Sec'y Thompson
Reaction to these developments from the scientific community has been quick. A number of groups have spoken out and individual researchers have defended their projects from the attacks by the Traditional Values Coalition (TVC). COSSA Executive Director Howard Silver has noted that there are groups in this country who “want to keep their heads in the sand” when it comes to behaviors they don’t like. “Given the AIDS pandemic, the significant numbers of people with STDs, and the volatile mix of drug, sex, and disease, this research is necessary,” he added. “There is a vital public health interest in these studies and they deserve and merit government support,” Silver concluded. This support is provided by NIH through a merit review process that has made the Institutes the premier biomedical and behavioral research agency in the world.
Norman B. Anderson, Chief Executive Officer of the American Psychological Association (APA) and the first Director of the NIH Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR), reiterated the value of the research being conducted by the NIH, noting that examining the "behaviors of at-risk research populations, such as prostitutes and drug users is crucial to public health. . . This research is absolutely necessary to fully understand how sexually-transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS, are spread from high-risk communities to those traditionally considered low-risk. This research is also necessary if we are to continue our national and international efforts to prevent these diseases," Anderson declared. Other reactions included:
The spread of HIV/AIDS, drug abuse, and other public health crises cause tremendous human suffering all over the world. If we're ever going to get a handle on these issues and help to improve human well-being, we must learn more about them through high-quality, peer-reviewed research," said Alan I. Leshner, Chief Executive Officer of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and Executive Publisher of its journal, Science. "The question of whether or not such behaviors are moral is irrelevant. They occur frequently and they are key factors in the spread of disease. We must have the courage, as scientists and citizens, to understand and confront them. Society deserves no less," he emphasized.
“The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) is deeply concerned about news reports implying that some 200 NIH-funded research grants on controversial, but critically important public health issues, largely dealing with sexual behaviors, are being subjected to extraordinary scrutiny as a result of pressure from either members of Congress or private advocacy groups,” said AAMC President Jordan J. Cohen. “While congressional oversight of the merit review process plays an essential role in ensuring appropriate accountability for the nation's investment in scientific research, the integrity of the oversight processes themselves should never be compromised by intrusion of extraneous sectarian or ideological issues.”
Academy Of Behavioral Medicine Research
American Association for the Advancement of Science
American Association of Medical Colleges
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
American Foundation for AIDS Research
American Psychiatric Association
American Psychological Association
American Psychological Society
American Public Health Association
American Sociological Association
Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum
Association for the Advancement of Behavior Therapy
Association of American Universities
Association of Population Centers
Association of Reproductive Health Professionals
Association of Schools of Public Health
Association of Teachers of Preventive Medicine
Center for the Advancement of Health
Consortium of Social Science Associations (COSSA)
Federation of Behavioral, Psychological and Cognitive Sciences
Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology
Hispanic-Serving Health Professions Schools, Inc.
Infectious Diseases Society of America
Institute for the Advancement of Social Work Research
National Campaign To Prevent Teen Pregnancy
National Coalition for LGBT Health
The National Hispanic Medical Association
National Partnership for Women & Families
Population Association of America
Reproductive Health Technologies Project
Society for Adolescent Medicine (SAM)
Society for Research in Child Development
Society for Research on Adolescents (SRA)
Society for Women's Health Research
Summit Health Institute for Research and Education, Inc.
Don't Let Ideology Trump Science -- Alan I. Leshner, chief executive officer of AAAS and executive publisher of Science, Volume 302, Number 5650, Issue of 28 Nov 2003, p. 1479.
Sex Study Critics Denying Reality -- Dayton (OH) Daily News
Research grants under attack --Craig J. Hogan and Malcolm R. Parks (Guest Columnists), Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Tuesday, November 25, 2003 Sex in the Capital City -- Los Angeles Times, Sunday, November 29, 2003No Sex Research Please, We're American -- By Richard Gallagher, The Scientist, Volume 17, Issue 23, 6, Dec. 1, 2003Grants, Politics, and the NIH -- Jeffrey M. Drazen, M.D., and Julie R. Ingelfinger, M.D., The New England Journal of Medicine
Politics in
the Lab Hits U.S. Scientific Integrity -- Barton Reppert,
The Christian Science Monitor, January 6, 2004 edition
In response to the latest inquiry into more than 150 NIH grants, Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY) is currently circulating a sign on letter that will be sent to President Bush to illustrate the level of congressional support for NIH and the peer review process. We urge you to contact your own Representatives and ask them to sign on to the letter. more
Sexuality and sexual relationships are an important part of the lives of most adults, but many suffer frigidity, impotence, sexually transmitted diseases, and unwanted pregnancies. Millions of Americans need preventive and therapeutic help. Problematic sexual relationships, sexual violence including rape, and other problem behaviors are also costly to individuals and to society. Solutions, preventive measures and therapies will only come about - as in other medical areas - through responsible research. The applications for research support from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and its Institutes are carefully screened by independent panels of experts to ensure their potential value and, when human subjects are involved, are reviewed and followed by community review boards of scientists and lay representatives of the community. These reviews ensure that today’s research will form the basis - as it has throughout NIH’s long history - for the preventive measures, public health campaigns, therapies and cures that will improve our functioning health tomorrow. (read more)
The Call to Action's Vision for the Future The 2002 Surgeon General's Call to Action to Promote Sexual Health and Responsible Sexual Behavior cited three fundamental areas - increasing awareness, implementing and strengthening interventions, and expanding the research base - in which strategies could help provide a foundation for promoting sexual health and responsible sexual behavior in a manner that is consistent with the best available science. In the area of research the report calls for:
Promote basic research in human sexual
development, sexual health, and reproductive health, as well as social and
behavioral research on risk and protective factors for sexual health.
Research, develop, disseminate, and evaluate educational materials and guidelines for sexuality education, covering the full continuum of human sexual development, for use by parents, clergy, teachers, and other community leaders.
Expand evaluation efforts for community, school and clinic based interventions that address sexual health and responsibility. (read more)
Updated January 13, 2004
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