Posted by Robin Harrison on May 03, 1998 at 12:47:18:
In Reply to: Re: Diabetes Research Working Group posted by JoeF on May 03, 1998 at 11:55:50:
"ADA has may objectives besides spending money on a cure."
I'd never argue otherwise, but the fact remains that one of the two primary components of their mission statement "is to prevent and cure diabetes." The other half of their mission is support-oriented, and I think they do a fabulous job of it.
I fail to see how "a larger pie to work with" does any good if an organization is afraid to take a clear stance or prioritize precisely what they wish to work with for fear that somebody might get "upset" or otherwise feel shortchanged. Life ain't always fair, and I've yet to hear any convincing arguments to support the idea that "all ideas are equal." '93-'94 figures indicate that ADA only spends roughly 13% of their gross budget on the entire collective of diabetes research (cure, etiology, micro/macro-complications, treatments, etc.). IMO, honesty dictates that unless their research funding budget has significantly increased, they should stop pretending that a cure is one of their primary missions.
Robin