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The Coalition to Protect Research is a coalition of organizations committed to promoting public health through research. Sexual health and behavior research is essential to providing a scientific foundation for sound public health prevention and intervention programs. |
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"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 ****** "I strongly urge the Members to resist the temptation to select a few grants for defunding because they do not like the sound of them based on one paragraph out of what probably was a number of pages of information. It would set a dangerous precedent and put a chill on medical research if we start to micromanage individual NIH grants. This has worked well over the years. We have had enormous progress because of these grants in achieving medical knowledge and giving the public a better health care system. I do not think this body, this committee, wants to get into the process of reviewing 120,000 grants and trying to pick 40,000 out of that group for funding." Rep. Ralph Regula -- Chairman, House Labor, Health and Human Services and Education Appropriations Subcommittee, fHouse floor July 11, 2003 ****** I have served on the subcommittee that deals with NIH for a long time, and the one thing I came to understand very quickly is that the day that we politicize NIH research, the day we decide which grants are going to be approved on the basis of a 10-minute horseback debate in the House of Representatives with 434 of the 435 Members in this place who do not even know what the grant is, that is the day we will ruin science research in this country. We have no business making political judgments about those kinds of issues. Rep. David Obey -- Ranking Member, House Labor, Health and Human Services and Education Appropriations Subcommittee, House floor July 11, 2003 ****** "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
****** "Decisions about medical research should be made by scientists, not by politicians promoting an ideological agenda.” Democratic House Leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi, July 2003
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"Here we have people saying, 'I don't like how that disease was contracted, so I don't want to study that disease.' It's equivalent to sticking your head in the sand. It's very important that the scientific community rises up and objects to the imposition of ideology in these areas."
Alan Leshner, President and CEO, AAAS, Washington Post, 1/19/04
CPR sponsors Congressional briefing -- Lost in Translation: Public Health Implications of Sexual Health Research The Scientific, Public Health, and Advocacy Community Reacts NIH Responds to Congress (Download letter to Congress) CPR Sends Letter of Support to Dr. Zerhouni Dr. Zerhouni 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
Become a Member of CPR - download membership form (pdf) ******
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For more information about the Coalition contact:
Angela Sharpe (COSSA) at (202) 842-3525
or
Karen Studwell (APA) at (202) 336-5585 |
The scientific community needs your help. Over the last year, there has been a steady increase in attacks on peer-reviewed research funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). In July 2003, the House of Representatives even voted on an amendment that would have cut off funding from five specific peer-reviewed grants that some members of Congress decided were not scientifically relevant or deserving of federal funds. While the vote failed, attacks on NIH and its funding decisions continue, with little regard for the integrity of the peer- review process or the thousands of scientists who volunteer their time and expertise to ensure that only scientific proposals of the highest quality are approved for funding. In response to congressional inquiries, NIH Director Elias Zerhouni conducted a comprehensive review of the NIH's human sexuality research portfolio. He concluded that the more than 150 grants under question were appropriately reviewed and that NIH's human sexuality portfolio, the main target of congressional inquiries, is not funded disproportionately to the public health burden of diseases linked to sexual behavior and sexual function such as HIV/AIDS, STD's or infertility. While the organizations representing scientists, researchers and those advocating for federally funded research on a wide range of health concerns are doing their best to defend peer review and the NIH's decision-making process, Congress needs to hear from you. We encourage you to join your fellow scientists and health care professionals in signing a petition supporting scientific principles. We would like to share this petition with your Representatives and Senators in Congress to show them that you, their constituents, are paying attention to their votes on these issues and that the scientific peer-review process should be free from political interference.
Read the Petition Background CPR sends letter of support to Dr. Zerhouni
Zerhouni Defends the National Institutes of Health's Support Sexual Health Research NIH Director Upholds Scientific Merit of Controversial Sexuality Grants Rep. Henry Waxman's 11/13 letter to Sec'y Thompson Rep. Waxman’s Politics and Science website
Rep. Tom Lantos 10/30 letter to Sec'y Thompson
Rep. Henry Waxman's 10/28 letter to Sec'y Thompson
Rep. Henry Waxman's 10/27 letter to Sec'y Thompson Sexual Health Grants Targeted By Conservative Group Waxman Expresses "Outrage" Over 'Hit List;' The Scientific Community Reacts Sexual Health Research Once Again an Issue; Rogers, Waxman Defend NIH Research See how your Representative voted Transcript of House Floor Debate on the Amendment offered by Rep. Toomey Grants Targeted by House Amendment Sexual Behavior Research at NIH Threatened NIH Peer Review Threatened: House Barely Defeats Attempts to Stop NIH Grants
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, . Research called for in the report includes:
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)
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Don't Let Ideology Trump Science -- Alan I. Leshner, Chief Executive Officer of AAAS and excutive 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 Smarm and the
Country -- Bernadine Healey, M.D. usnews.com, Science and
Society 2/24/2004
CPR sponsors Congressional briefing -- Lost in Translation: Public Health Implications of Sexual Health Research
The Scientific, Public Health, and Advocacy Community Reacts . . .
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.
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Updated May 11, 2006
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