Earlier this week, the US government proposed a series of cuts and changes to US governmental scientific agencies including the NIH (National Institutes of Health) and NSF (National Science Foundation).
The International Society of Cellular Therapy (ISCT) has now commented, saying that it believes the cuts, if implemented, will have potentially life threatening ramifications to science and clinical care in the US and internationally.
ISCT represents all stakeholders involved in cell therapy around the world. While it does not commonly comment on the government budgets of individual countries, the potential widespread global impact of these propositions has led the ISCT to “vigorously oppose[s]” cuts to the US scientific agencies.”
The cuts, if implemented, will have potentially life threatening ramifications.
ISCT President, Catherine Bollard, said many of the cuts proposed for the NIH by the Trump administration will directly and dangerously impact the entire international cell therapy, medical and scientific communities.
Bollard highlights the example of the proposed elimination of the Fogarty International Center for Advanced Study in the Health Sciences, the NIH program promoting and funding medical research and training outside the US.
Since the late 1960s, the Center has been instrumental in bringing together the international medical and scientific communities to address global health issues such as HIV/AIDS and Ebola.
Bollard believes this is but one example of how the proposed cuts will significantly impact the international scientific community and further erode standards of safety and efficacy in the delivery of treatments to patients globally.
