There is a growing evidence that COVID-19 negatively affects the kidneys and that the pandemic places an additional burden on people living with kidney diseases. The American Society and Nephrology (ASN) led the kidney community in urging Congressional appropriators to support $100 million in emergency supplemental funding for the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK).
There is a growing evidence that COVID-19 negatively affects the kidneys and that the pandemic places an additional burden on people living with kidney diseases. The American Society and Nephrology (ASN) led the kidney community in urging Congressional appropriators to support $100 million in emergency supplemental funding for the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK).
After Congress failed to include NIDDK in previous COVID-19 funding packages, the Senate’s supplemental bill released on July 27 included $200 million for the NIDDK for COVID-19 research. This funding would allow NIDDK to explore several research opportunities it identified on the negative effects COVID-19 has on kidneys and people living with kidney disease. The proposed Senate funding comes on the heels of a similar House proposal to allocate $154 million to NIDDK for COVID-19-related research, as part of an Emergency Supplemental package the House Labor, Health, and Human Services Subcommittee on Appropriations attached to its Fiscal Year 2021 spending bill.
The fact that the most recent House Emergency Supplemental and the Senate Emergency Supplemental proposals both included significant allocations to NIH for COVID-19 related research, and roughly $200M for NIDDK, bodes well for NIH overall and the institute center in particular getting a temporary funding bump in the final package Congress negotiates.
ASN is pleased that Congress is implicitly acknowledging the clear link between COVID-19 and the kidney and will continue to advocate for NIDDK to receive funding for COVID-19 research in the final legislation that is passed. The next objective for the kidney community will be ensuring that COVID-19 funding allocated to NIDDK is appropriately dedicated to kidney research, reflecting COVID-19’s disproportionate burden on kidney patients and the kidney injury it causes.
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