Tight finances creates competition among AIDS researchers

"As the economic downturn depresses global investment in AIDS prevention, scientists and those who fund them are struggling to set priorities among several competing research methods that could slow the spread of the disease, which causes about 2.7 million new infections worldwide a year," CQ HealthBeat reports. "The federal contribution has not dropped, thanks to additional funds for the National Institutes of Health that were in the 2009 economic stimulus law (PL 111-5). But resources from other countries and some philanthropic groups have declined. Researchers fear that trend will continue even as U.S. officials are ramping up diplomatic efforts to encourage other nations to give more" (Adams, 10/6).

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This article was reprinted from khn.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.