Gary Abrams, M.D., the David Barsky, M.D. Endowed Chair of the WSU Department of Ophthalmology and director of the Kresge Eye Institute, testified at the House Labor, Health and Human Services and Education Appropriations Subcommittee's "Public Witness" hearing in support of increased funding in the federal Fiscal Year 2006 budget for the National Eye Institute within the National Institutes of Health. Appearing as president of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthamolology, Dr. Abrams requested the NEI be funded at $711 million and the NIH receive $30 billion, a 6 percent increase over the last fiscal year for each. President Bush's FY 2006 budget proposes NEI and NIH funding increases at less than 1 percent.

"NEI research into the fundamental causes of eye disease is more critical now than ever as vision impairment and eye disease is a major public health problem growing larger due to an aging population, minority populations disproportionately affected by eye disease, and co-morbidities of disease, such as diabetic retinopathy," Abrams said. "Age-related eye diseases currently affect more than 35 million Americans age 40 and older, and the annual economic burden to the United States is now $68 billion for healthcare costs and lost productivity, which does not even begin to quantify societal costs associated with lost independence and a diminished quality of life."