Following an excellent suggestion from J.A. on last week’s post, I have added a line to the table of cumulative RFA numbers. This line will track the RFA dollars committed to ME/CFS. I don’t expect it to change this year. It might also be helpful to track regular ME/CFS funding, and I’ll look into the most efficient way to do this.
I thought it might be helpful to check in with where we were this time last year, too. The number of RFAs issued by this time in 2016 is about the same, but the overall funding commitment is lower. This time last year, NIH had already committed $1.5 billion in RFA funding. One possible explanation for the difference is that generally, RFAs are stating the specific commitment for the first year of funding only. Last year, more RFAs specified what would be offered in year two or three or four as well. I suspect this is a reflection of the uncertainty around federal spending and the priorities of this new administration.
Here are the current cumulative RFA numbers:
| FY 2017 | FY 2016 | |
|---|---|---|
| RFAs Issued | 137 | 352 |
| Dollars Committed | $784,157,563 | $2,840,680,617 |
| RFAs for ME/CFS | Two | Zero |
| ME/CFS RFA Dollars | $6,750,000 | $0 |
And here is the table for FY 2017 alone:
| Week Beginning | RFAs Issued | Total Commitment | RFAs for ME/CFS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2/13/17 | 8 | $29,600,000 | Zero |
| 2/6/17 | 1 | $4,000,000 | Zero |
| 1/30/17 | 1 | $10,000,000 | Zero |
| 1/23/17 | 4 | $14,250,000 | TWO |
| 1/16/17 | 2 | $45,600,000 | Zero |
| 1/9/17 | 0 | 0 | Zero |
| 1/2/17 | 1 | $43,000,000 | Zero |
| 12/26/16 | 0 | 0 | Zero |
| 12/19/16 | 2 | $10,000,000 | Zero |
| 12/12/16 | 28 | $125,950,000 | Zero |
| 12/5/16 | 14 | $114,800,000 | Zero |
| 11/28/16 | 10 | $47,660,000 | Zero |
| 11/21/16 | 6 | $42,780,000 | Zero |
| 11/14/16 | 6 | $44,350,000 | Zero |
| 11/7/16 | 10 | $25,490,563 | Zero |
| 10/31/16 | 4 | $26,550,000 | Zero |
| 10/24/16 | 10 | $53,400,000 | Zero |
| 10/17/16 | 17 | $94,890,000 | Zero |
| 10/10/16 | 1 | $28,750,00 | Zero |
| 10/3/16 | 9 | $23,087,00 | Zero |
If you want more background on the RFA Ticker, read the inaugural post.