July 16, 2008 – Congress yesterday was successful in overriding President Bush's veto of the Medicare legislation, including funding for diabetes research, that was passed by the House last month and by the Senate last week.
The legislation includes a two year extension of the Special Diabetes Program (SDP), providing $300 million for type 1 diabetes research ($150 million per year for two years). This is the second largest influx of federal research dollars ever provided to fight this disease; a multi-year extension of the SDP was JDRF's top legislative priority this year. Passage of the bill avoids a 35 percent cut in federal support for type 1 diabetes research.
"This multi-year renewal of the SDP will enable NIH and the research community to continue aggressively fighting diabetes," said Larry Soler, JDRF's Vice President of Government Relations. "The strong, bipartisan support for the SDP in Congress stems from its demonstrated record of success and return on the federal investment. JDRF is grateful and pleased that this Congress has made the future of this life-saving program a priority in a difficult budget climate."
Created in 1997, the SDP provides multi-year focused funding that has led to the development of new technologies and therapies that are helping people with diabetes and accelerating the pace of science leading to a cure. The SDP has been renewed by Congress four times and consists of two parts – research funding for type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes treatment and education programs for Native American populations.
About Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation
JDRF is the leading charitable funder and advocate of type 1 (juvenile) diabetes research worldwide. The mission of JDRF is to find a cure for diabetes and its complications through the support of research. Type 1 diabetes is a disease which strikes suddenly and requires multiple injections of insulin daily or a continuous infusion of insulin through a pump. Insulin, however, is not a cure for diabetes, nor does it prevent its eventual and devastating complications which may include kidney failure, blindness, heart disease, stroke, and amputation.
Since its founding in 1970 by parents of children with type 1 diabetes, JDRF has awarded more than $1.16 billion to diabetes research, including more than $137 million in FY2007. In FY2007, the Foundation funded 700 centers, grants and fellowships in 20 countries.