Boost for NSW spinal injury research

NSW Premier Bob Carr has pledged $AUD10.9 million towards research into spinal injury.

The funding, part of a larger package of $AUD35.9 million over four years for research and services for people with disabilities, will establish the Spinal Cord Injury and Conditions Fund, which will support biomedical research into spinal injury, disorders and neurological conditions.

Carr promised the funding at the Premier's Forum on Spinal Injury and Conditions, which finished in Sydney yesterday.

Carr said the funding would build on the NSW government's BioFirst strategy announced in September 2001, a $AUD68 million package aimed at building up the biotechnology industry in NSW.

The Spinal Cord Injury and Conditions Fund will come from revenue generated by 10 new fixed speed cameras to be commissioned next month. Joanna Knott, from the Australasian Spinal Research Trust, will work with the government to establish and administer the fund.

The two-day Premier's Forum, which also featured a keynote speech by former actor and now stem cell research advocate Christopher Reeve, brought together prominent scientists to present the latest research.

"Increased funding is needed to underpin this research," said Prof Perry Bartlett, foundation professor of Molecular Neuroscience at the University of Queensland. Bartlett said he believed researchers were on the cusp of devising new therapies for nervous system problems and neurodegenerative disease. "It is clear the days of blue sky are over, we now have sufficient leads," he said.

Bartlett also emphasised that Australian research was playing an integral role in finding a cure for spinal cord damage, and in the international campaign to cure paralysis young Australian researchers were well recognised.

The remaining $25 million pledged by Carr will be used to provide extra services for the disabled, including an extra 100 attendant care places to help people with physical disability to do everyday tasks and a pilot program to improve services for people who have suffered catastrophic injuries to help them move from rehabilitation centres back into the community.