Malecare has been an active and early member of the Defense Health Research Consortium. The consortium currently consists of 47 different organizations, which educate and advocate for research Department of Defense funding for multiple different diseases and syndromes. The consortium’s goal is to lobby Congress to continue to and to expand support for the Department of Defense Medical Research Program (DOD CDMRP).

The second largest funded program of the DOD CDMRP is for research in prostate cancer (PCRP). To date, the accomplishments of the PCRP have been most impressive. The funded research has brought about the development some of our new drugs; it has been in the forefront of reducing the pain and suffering of prostate cancer. I believe, given the invested dollars, this single program has accomplished more than any other government-funded program.

Each year we need to fight for a funding allocation. The DOD CDMRP is not a formal part of the budget, but is provided for in a congressional allocation that is outside of the regular budget process. With the increasing fiscal conservatism we see in government getting the annual allocation becomes both harder and less sure. Each year we need to rally and let the members of congress know how important this particular program is to our well-being.

One of the common complaints from members of congress we hear about the program is that medical research doesn’t belong in the Department of Defense. The comments are that The National Institute of Health (NIH) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) should conduct cancer research, not the DOD. Each year there is conversation about eliminating the DOD CDMRP program and moving the funds to either the NIH or the NCI. If this happen we would lose important and real dollars from prostate cancer research as well as the DOD orientation towards translational research.

To answer this concern the Defense Health Research Consortium has sent letters to the key persons in congress pointing out that the research being conducted is appropriate for the DOD as it directly relates to our veterans and members of the military. The following is the rational used for prostate cancer:

“Prostate cancer is the second deadliest cancer among American men, killing more than 27,000 men annually, and there are more than 1.5 million prostate cancer patients in the U.S. that depend on breakthroughs in research to continue their fight. Additionally, active duty males are twice as likely to develop prostate cancer than their civilian counterparts. Research funded by the Prostate Cancer Research Program (PCRP) advances treatments and procedures for war fighters exposed to chemical weapons, who are at an increased risk of developing prostate cancer. These soldiers include those exposed to chemical agents such as Agent Orange in Vietnam; other unknown chemicals that have emerged since the Desert Storm operations in Iraq; and exposure to depleted uranium which has been used in munitions since 1991 and used in classified testing facilities since the 1970s. Funding from the PCRP has developed three new treatments for advanced disease in the last four years and the program is now focused on improving diagnosis to reduce over treatment and accurately distinguish life-threatening disease from indolent tumors”.

Our statements also pointed out that the funding is:

Directly related to DOD-prevalent conditions
Complementary – not duplicative of other Federal research
Cutting edge and focused on cures (translational)
Agile, adaptable and collaborative
Competitive and using a unique peer review process
Consumer reviewers are active at all stages of the review process
Generating economic growth across the United States

The key persons the Defense Health Research Consortium has sent letters to (and so should you) were:

Senator Thad Cochran
Chairman
Subcommittee on Defense
Committee on Appropriations
122 Senate Dirksen Building
Washington, DC 20510

Senator Richard Durbin
Ranking Member
Subcommittee on Appropriations
113 Senate Dirksen Building
Washington, DC 20510

The Honorable Rodney Frelinghuysen
Chairman
Subcommittee on Defense
Committee on Appropriations
H-307 Capitol Building
Washington, DC 20515

The Honorable Peter Visclosky
Ranking Member
Subcommittee on Appropriations
1016 Longworth HOB
Washington, DC 20515

We are always at risk of losing our funding. It is vital that we all let both the afore mentioned members of congress as well as our own representatives know that this is a vital program that needs not only to be protected, but also needs to be expanded. Let congress know that you are counting on their support.

Joel T. Nowak, M.A., M.S.W.