AIDS Research at NIH: Study Panel Issues Major Report

On March 14 the Office of AIDS Research of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) released an overview evaluation of AIDS research at NIH, conducted by 114 outside experts and representatives under Princeton virologist Dr. Arnold Levine. A number of subpanel reports are still confidential, but are expected to be released in April. (This writer was a community representative on one of the subpanels, on complementary and alternative treatments.)

The overall report (REPORT OF THE NIH AIDS RESEARCH PROGRAM EVALUATION WORKING GROUP OF THE OFFICE OF AIDS RESEARCH ADVISORY COUNCIL) is by far the most important ever on AIDS research. (It is limited to U.S. National Institutes of Health, but the U.S. funds 85% of all publicly funded AIDS research in the world.) The evaluation's conclusions and recommendations are unusually strong for the scientific world, which usually covers for each other's inadequacies and mistakes. The report is being greeted with near-universal enthusiasm among AIDS organizations and advocates -- and panic from some researchers who fear their funding will be cut.

One crucial document -- the report from the clinical trials subpanel -- is still confidential. We have heard that it will be less threatening to pediatric researchers than the overall report which has been published. A major controversy around pediatric AIDS research is that it has been disproportionately funded due to a Congressional mandate. But there is also recognition that the area does need special government attention, since pharmaceutical companies have been remarkably negligent in conducting pediatric studies.

When the rest of the documentation is available, we will report in depth on this review of AIDS research. An important article on the initial document appeared in THE NEW YORK TIMES on March 14.

An immediate issue is the moves in Congress to take away the central budget authority of OAR over NIH AIDS research (authority which Congress gave OAR in 1993 when it last reauthorized NIH) -- returning this authority to the separate Institutes. There is widespread concern that this change would prevent the panel's recommendations from being implemented, and lead to a continuation of poor overall management and uncoordinated research efforts.

You can get a copy of the report from the World Wide Web; go to the NIH home page, http://www.nih.gov/, and look under News and Events. Or call 301/402-3357; or mail a request (including your address and phone number) to Office of AIDS Research, Building 31, room 4B54, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892-2340. You can also stop by that office for a copy.