Health budget cuts will be disastrous, claim ISCT

After President Trump’s announcement of budget cuts to US governmental scientific agencies last week, the International Society of Cellular Therapy (ISCT) has stated that ramifications to science, clinical care and patients in the US and internationally will be severe and harmful. The proposed budget cuts will affect, among others, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF).

ISCT president, Dr Catherine Bollard, states that the ISCT global leadership representing all stakeholders involved in cell therapy around the world believes 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.

Highlighting the example of the proposed elimination of the Fogarty International Center for Advanced Study in the Health Sciences, Bollard believes this cut will erode standards of safety and efficacy in the delivery of treatments to patients globally. The Fogarty International Center for Advanced Study in the Health Sciences is the NIH programme, which promotes and funds medical research and training outside the US, and has been instrumental in bringing together the international medical and scientific communities to address global health issues such as HIV/AIDS and Ebola since the 1960s.

Although it is not common practice for the ISCT to comment on government budgets of individual countries, it stated, “in this specific case, because of the potential widespread global impact of these propositions, ISCT vigorously opposes cuts to the US scientific agencies.”

ISCT is a global society of clinicians, regulators, technologists and industry partners with a shared vision to translate cellular therapy into safe and effective therapies to improve patients’ lives.