Step change funding boost for health research

Step change funding boost for health research
Media Release - University of Auckland - 18 May 2017

Medical research in New Zealand had a major boost this week with an extra $97 million funding over four years committed to the Health Research Council (HRC).

The Government announced that the annual amount available for health research through the HRC will increase by 56 per cent from $77m in 2015/16 to $120m in 2019/20.

“This is a very significant increase for health research funding and signals that the Government is fully committed to the outcomes of the recent HRC refresh review,” says the Dean of the University of Auckland’s Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, Professor John Fraser.

“This is making a substantial investment to bring New Zealand health research funding into line with other nations,” he says. “It is a step change for the health research community and we are all delighted.

“This is a very major increase - the largest single increase in health research funding in living memory-and it will increase funds available to support health research by 50 percent within four years,” says Professor Fraser.

“One of the major problems we face is attracting and retaining our best and brightest young scientists and doctors,” he says. “Other nations, particularly Australia, are offering about three times the funding per capita of New Zealand. The UK funds at six times and the USA funds at 12 times the rate per capita.

“They are much more attractive countries to build a research career. This significant increase certainly goes some way to reversing that situation,” says Professor Fraser.

“While the increase is significant, there is still quite a long way to go before we are truly competitive with even our nearest neighbour Australia; a country that is very good at attracting our top medical scientists and research clinicians to centres such as Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.

“The increase certainly signals that this Government is committed to reversing the situation, but it will take a very significant increase over a number of years and possibly successive governments, before we can truly compete with Australia’s commitment to medical research funding,” says Professor Fraser.

HRC Chief Executive Professor Kath McPherson, says she is delighted at the Government’s increased commitment to the work of the HRC in making a meaningful difference to the health and wellbeing of New Zealanders, and to our healthcare system and economy, through this new funding.

“The research we have invested in over the past 10 years has had a significant impact on people’s health both here and around the world. This new investment is a huge opportunity for us to build on this great work and do even better.”

Professor McPherson says the HRC will now be able to increase funding opportunities for innovative and novel research to create a ‘launching pad’ for promising health-delivery research and the ground-breaking biomedical research that underpins future treatments.”

The HRC will also be able to create more opportunities to partner with other health-related agencies and take advantage of new technologies and social media to bring key health research messages into people’s homes and workplaces.

She says that since the HRC was established in 1990 the quality of life for all New Zealanders and the number of years we can expect to live free from disease and disability, has improved significantly.

“Our infant mortality rate has declined by 30 percent; the number of over 65s with disabilities has decreased by 13 percent; life expectancy has increased by six years for males and three years for females; and survival rates from cancer have doubled since the 1970s,” says Professor McPherson.

“HRC-funded research and research teams have made many of these health gains possible.”

Professor McPherson says the HRC’s research investment also generates direct economic returns through the development of innovative commercial products, where early discoveries have been taken all the way from patent to patient.

“These innovative products and treatments in New Zealand include a wireless heart-pump; a cooling cap to prevent brain damage in pre-term babies; a world-first vaccine for rotavirus; a diagnostic tool for bladder cancer and a new treatment for osteoporosis that is 10,000 times stronger than previously available drugs,” she says.

ENDS

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