Last month, SOT was a signatory on letters to the House and Senate Committee on Appropriations and Subcommittee on Labor, Health, and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies regarding a FY2024 Funding Recommendation for the Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Program. These letters were drafted by the American Academy of Pediatrics and contained 29 signatures. SOT signed similar letters in 2021 and 2022. The letters requested $180 million in funding for ECHO, stating that “ECHO-funded researchers continue to advance our understanding of the ways that environmental influences impact maternal and child health and well-being.” You can read the full versions of the letter to the House and the letter to the Senate on the SOT website.
SOT also joined 370+ organizations as signatories on a letter in March issued by the Ad Hoc Group for Medical Research. The letter provided a recommendation regarding the National Institutes of Health (NIH) FY2024 budget, asking for a $3.465 billion increase over the comparable FY 2023 program level budget. The letter argued that this increase would be beneficial because “Strong growth above BRDPI for the NIH provides critical support for additional research across the agency’s diverse areas of study, conducted nationwide and through the NIH’s 27 individual Institutes and Centers.” The full letter is available on the SOT website.
Remember that you can view recent SOT statements and policy activities on the “SOT Statements” web page. You also can find a historical record of policy activities and SOT documents, such as Annual Business Meeting presentations and Annual Meeting publications, on the “Publications and Historical Documents” web page.
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