The omnibus spending package for the 2023 fiscal year will include $22 million for lupus research and education—the largest single-year federally mandated funding for the disease, according to a press release by the Lupus Foundation of America. The bill was approved by the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives on December 22 and December 23, respectively, and signed into law by President Joe Biden on December 29. The package included $10 million for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Lupus Patient Registry; $10 million for the Department of Defense’s Lupus Research Program; and $2 million for the Office of Minority Health to be directed toward the National Lupus Training, Outreach, and Clinical Trial Education Program, as well as initiatives to encourage greater minority participation in lupus clinical trials. Lupus advocates have secured almost 300% more lupus funding in the last 10 years—a total of $149.8 million for lupus research and education—than in the prior 10 years, an increase that shows increasing commitment toward lupus-related programs. The funding is expected to advance the understanding of lupus and greatly accelerate the development of new treatment options.
May 25, 2023