Differing Views On AIDS Funding
Scientists who don't receive federal funds to do AIDS research think that the government's AIDS program has drained away research dollars from other fields. But scientists who receive such funds think those other disciplines have not been affected. These findings are part of a survey by the congressional Office of Technology Assessment, sent to 400 members of the Institute of Medicine. The survey was actually conducted to measure the impact of AIDS research on other fields, and the 142 respondents pointed to major contributions in immunology, virology, molecular biology, and microbiology. But when it came to judging federal spending priorities, OTA confirmed the adage that where you sit is the best indicator of where you stand on a particular issue. Some 73 percent of the scientists who don't get federal funds and don't do AIDS-related research believed that AIDS funding was squeezing other fields, while...