Paratuberculosis Awareness & Research Association
Request for Earmarked Funding Allocation
for Research Targeted at Infectious Cause of Crohn's Disease

Title Page
Who is Para?
Letter
Appendix I
Appendix II
Appendix III
Appendix IV
Appendix V
Appendix VI

Appendix III

A COMPARISON OF RESEARCH FUNDING ALLOCATIONS: CROHN'S DISEASE AND AIDS

As the left graph shows, the number of persons in the United States suffering from Crohn's disease, 400,0001, is comparable to the number of persons with HIV/AIDS: 383,886.2 The annual cost of medical treatment of Crohn's disease ($3.4 billion3) is about 60 percent of the cost of treating AIDS ($5.8 billion4).

But as the right graph shows, the comparative research expenditures are grossly disproportionate. Government funding for HIV/AIDS research over the next three years is projected to be at least $5.6 billion.5 Absent Congressional action, funds allocated for research into an infectious cause of Crohn's disease will be -- zero.

Comparison of Crohn's and AIDS research dollars

PARA's modest research budget proposal is for $500 million over three years -- less than ten percent of the $5.6 billion HIV/AIDS research allocation, and comparable to the expected increase in HIV/AIDS funding6 -- yet this small amount will benefit at least an equivalent number of patients.

Research into an infectious cause of Crohn's disease does far more than find new ways of maintaining patients on a lifetime of drugs. By zeroing in on the root cause of the disease, this research will have as its goal a cure. Investment in research now could result in real dollar savings in the long term, not to mention the health and quality of life for the hundreds of thousands of sufferers of Crohn's disease. This proposed research will build upon successful research that has already begun without government aid, research that has resulted in treatments that are being cautiously regarded as cures.

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  1. "Crohn's Disease in Olmsted County, Minnesota, 1940-1993: Incidence, Prevalence, and Survival" A.R. Zinsmeister, et al. 1998. Gastroenterology:114:1161-1168
  2. CDC HIV/AIDS Surveillance Report June 1999 Vol. 11, No. 1 Page 5
  3. op. cit., Gastroenterology:114:1161-1168
  4. CDC "Preventing Emerging Infectious diseases..." Sept 11,1998/47(RR15);1-14; Table 1
  5. NIH FY1999 Budget Report Page 5: 7.7% increase over 1998, projected 7.7% increase each year.
  6. NIH FY1999 Budget Report Page 5: AIDS research increase for FY 1999 is $124 million; three-year increase projected to be $372 million.