NIH grants for CFS

[ebethc]

Hi there,
I'm not very knowledgable about CFS research - mostly because there hasn't been much to know about until recently! I'm curious and have a couple of questions if anyone can help.. thanks..

1. Which year did the NIH begin giving grants for CFS?


2. If I'm reading this table correctly, the per patient spend for ME/CFS is $8 for 2017... I think this is correct, but can someone confirm?
https://report.nih.gov/categorical_spending.aspx

 

[Mary]

Hi @ebethc - I don't know what year the NIH began giving grants for CFS. But the table you reference shows funding in millions of dollars per year, not per person. So the $8 figure refers to $8 million total spent on ME/CFS in 2017, which is near the bottom of the barrel.

In I think it was 2015, Francis Collins said NIH funding for ME/CFS would be "ramped up substantially". It went all the way from $6 million to $8 million ... compare to MS which has 1/4 or less the patient population as ME/CFS and which received $101 million.

 

[Tally]

But the table you reference shows funding in millions of dollars per year, not per person. So the $8 figure refers to $8 million total spent on ME/CFS in 2017, which is near the bottom of the barrel.

But there are about a million M.E. sufferers in the US so it comes down to same.

 

[Mary]

But there are about a million M.E. sufferers in the US so it comes down to same.

You're right, if there are one million ME sufferers in the U.S.. However, this seems to be on the low side, and the mean number from the Institute of Medicine is more like 1.6 million and it could go up to 2.5 million or even more. In any case, funding almost nothing compared to any other serious illness. Based on a patient population of 1.6 million, 2017 NIH funding for ME/CFS was $5 per person.

There's an estimated 400,000 people with MS in the U.S., which amounts to $252 per patient for 2017. It's over $3,000 per AIDS patient.

 

[ebethc]

But there are about a million M.E. sufferers in the US so it comes down to same.

exactly... that's why I couldn't tell thanks for the response!

 

[ebethc]

Hi @ebethc - I don't know what year the NIH began giving grants for CFS. But the table you reference shows funding in millions of dollars per year, not per person. So the $8 figure refers to $8 million total spent on ME/CFS in 2017, which is near the bottom of the barrel.

In I think it was 2015, Francis Collins said NIH funding for ME/CFS would be "ramped up substantially". It went all the way from $6 million to $8 million ... compare to MS which has 1/4 or less the patient population as ME/CFS and which received $101 million.

Ahhh... got it... thanks...

 

[ebethc]

You're right, if there are one million ME sufferers in the U.S.. However, this seems to be on the low side, and the mean number from the Institute of Medicine is more like 1.6 million and it could go up to 2.5 million or even more. In any case, funding almost nothing compared to any other serious illness. Based on a patient population of 1.6 million, 2017 NIH funding for ME/CFS was $5 per person.

There's an estimated 400,000 people with MS in the U.S., which amounts to $252 per patient for 2017. It's over $3,000 per AIDS patient.

yes, that's the other thing.. I believe that the number of cfs patients is way under reported, too.