AACC Calls for Congress to Include $40 Million for CDC Advanced Molecular Detection (AMD) Program in Final Budget

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Dear Chairman Leahy, Vice Chairman Shelby, Chair DeLauro and Ranking Member Granger:

We, the undersigned organizations, respectfully request that you include at least $40 million for the Advanced Molecular Detection (AMD) program at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the final Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS), Education and Related Agencies bill, as proposed by the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor HHS Education. AMD has played a critical role in the response to the global COVID-19 pandemic, from enabling the United States to sequence SARS-CoV-2 within one week of its initial detection in this country, to sequencing tens of thousands of samples each week to track viral variants.

Sustained and reliable annual funding increases are needed to keep our investments in the AMD program up to date and continue the important collaborative work and training programs bolstered by supplemental funding. NGS technology continues to advance at an astounding pace and yet funding for the AMD base budget has remained flat since the program’s inception in 2014. The current base funding level of $30 million is not sufficient to meet increasing demands for the equipment, training, and expertise required to support state and local health departments with precision public health and expanded collaborations. Returning to this level post-pandemic also threatens the infrastructure that has been built over the past year that has strengthened the core program.

Emergency AMD funding through the American Rescue Plan Act has been instrumental as new variants threatened our progress against COVID-19 and will help build a public health workforce that is adept at applying genomic technologies and has access to up-to-date sequencing technology and the high-performance computing resources they need to analyze that data. We thank Congress for the significant resources it has provided to the program in the near term, but we know that short-term funding does not build sustainable public health systems.

The CDC AMD program uses next generation sequencing (NGS) to bring precision medicine to public health. AMD gives us new tools to detect disease faster, identify outbreaks sooner, and protect people from emerging and evolving disease threats. Beyond viral surveillance, it informs vaccine development, helps to identify and track antimicrobial resistance and foodborne illness, and informs the development of diagnostics for new, existing, and emerging diseases.

We recognize that you face difficult choices with respect to the FY 2022 budget; however, as we continue to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic and other infectious threats, we must grow and sustain the base budget for this unique program. Annual sustained investments are the best way to build a public health infrastructure that is prepared to tackle the next health crisis.

Although the proposed increases fall short of the $60 million we believe is needed in annual appropriations next year, we thank you for your support and respectfully request that you allocate the Senate-proposed $40 million for the CDC AMD program in FY 22 to protect public health both now and in the future.

Sincerely,

AdvaMedDx

American Association for Clinical Chemistry

American Association of Bioanalysts

American Medical Technologists

American Society for Clinical Pathology

American Society for Microbiology

American Society for Virology

American Society of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene

Association for Molecular Pathology

Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology

Association of American Medical Colleges

Association of Public Health Laboratories

Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health

Association of State and Territorial Health Officials

Big Cities Health Coalition

Biophysical Society Clear Labs

College of American Pathologists

Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists

Global Health Technologies Coalition

Helix Op Co, LLC

HIV Medicine Association

Illumina

Infectious Diseases Society of America

National Association of County and City Health Officials

Society of Infectious Diseases Pharmacists (SIDP)

The Gerontological Society of America

The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America

Thermo Fisher Scientific

Trust for America's Health

Cc:

The Honorable Patty Murray The Honorable Roy Blunt The Honorable Tom Cole