This month at the NIH
1
10 years, "but it seems that winning the war against cancer was never con- nected to doing something for people, to make delivery of care available to the American public regardless of insurance status. We [the panel] think this has not been done well." The new report was based on ac- counts from nearly 400 cancer survivors and caregivers who told their stories to the panel during a series of regional meetings held in 7 cities throughout the country during 2000-2001. People de- scribed numerous issues that the panel put into 4 categories: (1) system barriers that undervalue cancer prevention, edu- cation and screening efforts; (2) finan- cial barriers faced by people with no insmmlce, although they may be work- ing at multiple jobs and by people who are underinsured and overwhelmed by out-of-pocket expenses; (3) physical bar- riers confronted by people who live in distant, mini, or frontier areas with no transportation system and lack of spe- cialists; (4) information and education barriers for providers, such as primary care physicians who hesitate to make timely referrals, and for patients and the public whose fears may cause them to reject cancer-prevention messages, avoid cancer screening, delay or avoid treatment ff diagnosed, and have diffi- culty understanding and choosing among treatment options or following treatment regimens. The panel's first recommendation called for immediate medical cover- age for uninsured Americans (esti- mated at 44 million) who are diag- nosed with cancer. "We say essentially no person in America with cancer should go untreat- ed," Freeman said. Among other steps for addressing barriers to care, the panel recommended: (1) improved drug reim- bursement policies that do not restrict coverage based on method of adminis- tration (oral vs. injection); (2) expanded support for community-based programs that help people obtain cancer informa- tion, screening, treatment, and support- ive services; (3) Medicare, Medicaid, the Veterans Administration, Department of Defense, Indian Health Service, and other public payers should clarify the order of responsibility for payment when a person is eligible for benefits under more than one program; (4) im- proved initial and continuing training for all cancer care professionals to raise their awareness of unintended or overt racial and cultural bias; and (5) extend state of the art cancer care to rural, fron- tier, and other underserved areas by expanding the use of telemedicine and providing reimbursement for it. The full report can be seen online at http://deainfo.nci.nih.gov/ADVISORY/ pcp/pcp.htm. Stories by Leslie Lang This Month at the NIH T he Division of Digestive Diseases and Nutrition of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) and other NIH offices have published a Request for Applications (RFA) and notices in the NIH Guide that should be of interest to the Digestive Diseases research community: NIDDK Progenitor Cell Genome Anatomy Projects. (RFA: RFA-DK-02-027) http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa- files/RFA-DK-02-027.html. This RFA invites Cooperative Agreement Applications for Progenitor Cell Genome Anatomy Projects (GAPS) that will participate in the discovery of the processes necessaryfor development of tissue-specificcells and organs from stem cells and the processes by which progenitor cells maintain and regenerate tissues and organs in health and disease. Letter of intent: February 15, 2002. Application receipt date: March 15, 2002. Barrett's Esophagus, Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease, and Adenocarcinoma of the Esophagus. (RFA: RFA-DK-02-015) http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-DK-O2-O15.html. This RFA is designed to stimulate and solicit studies to broadly address the problem of Barrett's esophagus, its etiology and relationship to gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), and its link to the rising incidence of adenocarcinoma of the esophagus. Letter of intent: February 20, 2002. Application receipt date: March 20, 2002. Digestive Diseases Development Centers. (DK-0i-030) http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-DK-Ol-O30.html. These Research Development Centers will support shared research resources, or cores, to be used by groups of NIDDK-funded investigators pursuing research that can be enhancedby the use of those shared resources, but who do not currently have access to a SilvioO. Come Digestive Diseases Research Core Center. Pleasenote that in a subsequent notice (http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-DK-Ol-O14.html), the receipt dates were changed to the following: Letter of Intent, June 17, 2002. Application receipt date: July 17, 2002. NIDDK will participate in the recently announced loan repayment program (as a part of the NIH Extramural Loan Repayment Program for Clinical Researchers (LRP-CR), described at: http://lrp.info.nih.gov/. The LRP-CR provides for the repayment of a portion of the educational loan debt of qualified health professionals who agree to conduct clinical research. The details of this new program are currently under development with the most current information listed at the website. Interested individuals are strongly encouraged to contact the NIDDK program individuals listed in specific notices to discuss application procedures. Individuals can also receive weekly automatic e-mail notices published in the NIH guide by subscribing to the listserv at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/. Please note that GASTROENTEROLOGY will feature announcements from NIH/NIDDK on a monthly basis henceforth.
Transcript of This month at the NIH
10 years, "but it seems that winning the war against cancer was never con- nected to doing something for people,
to make delivery of care available to the American public regardless of insurance
status. We [the panel] think this has n o t
been done well."
The new report was based on ac- counts from nearly 400 cancer survivors and caregivers who told their stories to
the panel during a series of regional meetings held in 7 cities throughout the country during 2000-2001. People de- scribed numerous issues that the panel put into 4 categories: (1) system barriers
that undervalue cancer prevention, edu- cation and screening efforts; (2) finan- cial barriers faced by people with no
insmmlce, although they may be work- ing at multiple jobs and by people who are underinsured and overwhelmed by
out-of-pocket expenses; (3) physical bar-
riers confronted by people who live in distant, mini, or frontier areas with no
transportation system and lack of spe- cialists; (4) information and education barriers for providers, such as primary care physicians who hesitate to make
timely referrals, and for patients and the public whose fears may cause them to
reject cancer-prevention messages, avoid cancer screening, delay or avoid treatment ff diagnosed, and have diffi-
culty understanding and choosing among treatment options or following
treatment regimens. The pane l ' s first r e c o m m e n d a t i o n
called for immedia te medical cover- age for un insu red Americans (esti-
mated at 44 mill ion) w h o are diag-
nosed wi th cancer. "We say essentially no person in
America with cancer should go untreat- ed," Freeman said. Among other steps for addressing barriers to care, the panel
recommended: (1) improved drug reim- bursement policies that do not restrict coverage based on method of adminis-
tration (oral vs. injection); (2) expanded support for community-based programs that help people obtain cancer informa-
tion, screening, treatment, and support- ive services; (3) Medicare, Medicaid, the Veterans Administration, Department of Defense, Indian Health Service, and other public payers should clarify the
order of responsibility for payment when a person is eligible for benefits
under more than one program; (4) im- proved initial and continuing training for all cancer care professionals to raise
their awareness of unintended or overt racial and cultural bias; and (5) extend state of the art cancer care to rural, fron-
tier, and other underserved areas by expanding the use of telemedicine a n d providing reimbursement for it.
The full report can be seen online at http://deainfo.nci.nih.gov/ADVISORY/
pcp/pcp.htm.
Stories by Leslie Lang
This Month at the NIH
T he Division of Digestive Diseases and Nutrition of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) and other NIH offices have published a Request for Applications (RFA) and notices in the NIH Guide that should be of interest
to the Digestive Diseases research community:
NIDDK Progenitor Cell Genome Anatomy Projects. (RFA: RFA-DK-02-027) http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa- files/RFA-DK-02-027.html. This RFA invites Cooperative Agreement Applications for Progenitor Cell Genome Anatomy Projects (GAPS) that will participate in the discovery of the processes necessary for development of tissue-specific cells and organs from stem cells and the processes by which progenitor cells maintain and regenerate tissues and organs in health and disease. Letter of intent: February 15, 2002. Application receipt date: March 15, 2002.
Barrett's Esophagus, Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease, and Adenocarcinoma of the Esophagus. (RFA: RFA-DK-02-015) http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-DK-O2-O15.html. This RFA is designed to stimulate and solicit studies to broadly address the problem of Barrett's esophagus, its etiology and relationship to gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), and its link to the rising incidence of adenocarcinoma of the esophagus. Letter of intent: February 20, 2002. Application receipt date: March 20, 2002.
Digestive Diseases Development Centers. (DK-0i-030) http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-DK-Ol-O30.html. These Research Development Centers will support shared research resources, or cores, to be used by groups of NIDDK-funded investigators pursuing research that can be enhanced by the use of those shared resources, but who do not currently have access to a Silvio O. Come Digestive Diseases Research Core Center. Please note that in a subsequent notice (http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-DK-Ol-O14.html), the receipt dates were changed to the following: Letter of Intent, June 17, 2002. Application receipt date: July 17, 2002.
NIDDK will participate in the recently announced loan repayment program (as a part of the NIH Extramural Loan Repayment Program for Clinical Researchers (LRP-CR), described at: http://lrp.info.nih.gov/. The LRP-CR provides for the repayment of a portion of the educational loan debt of qualified health professionals who agree to conduct clinical research. The details of this new program are currently under development with the most current information listed at the website.
Interested individuals are strongly encouraged to contact the NIDDK program individuals listed in specific notices to discuss application procedures. Individuals can also receive weekly automatic e-mail notices published in the NIH guide by subscribing to the listserv at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/.
Please note that GASTROENTEROLOGY will feature announcements from NIH/NIDDK on a monthly basis henceforth.
