Congress today approved a two-year extension of the Special Diabetes Program, giving the National Institutes of Health $300 million to fund research into new therapies and technologies for people with Type I diabetes.
The program, which has historically garnered bipartisan support, was last reauthorized in 2015 when lawmakers budgeted $150 million over two years for the program. That funding ran out at the end of September. At the time, Congress approved a short-term patch that would fund the program through the end of March but advocacy groups pushed back, arguing that temporary support was not enough.
With the program’s latest reauthorization, groups like JDRF say that researchers around the country will be able to sustain large-scale trials and scientists can continue developing the latest technologies designed for people with Type I diabetes.
“Thanks to this important legislative action, groundbreaking research will improve lives and bring us closer to a world without T1D,” Derek Rapp, JDRF president & CEO, said in prepared remarks.
The program’s renewal comes as part of the legislation passed by Congress and signed by the president to fund the government through March 23.
“I want to thank the many members of Congress who supported the Special Diabetes Program renewal, including the leadership on both sides of the aisle and our champions in the Senate Diabetes Caucus and Congressional Diabetes Caucus,” Rapp added. “The JDRF community is tremendously appreciative of all you do to accelerate life-changing breakthroughs to cure, prevent and treat T1D and its complications.”
