Experts say government must crank up medical research investment

Australia government must ramp up its investment in health and medical research to secure a strong, enduring, sustainable economic future according to Australian Graduate School of Management innovation and biotechnology expert, Professor Michael Vitale, and CEO of Research Australia, Dr Christine Bennett.

In a joint paper published in The Medical Journal of Australia, the pair urged the Federal Government to commit to the recommendations of the Grant Report, released by the Minister of Health and Ageing, Tony Abbott, in December last year.

Conducted by a committee of independent experts, the Report was initiated by the Government to evaluate the impact of its historical doubling of research funding four years ago. Also known as the Investment Review of Health and Medical Research, the Report showed that successes in healthcare have already occurred, and it recommended that the Government further boost its investment in order to maintain the succeeding status and to stay in the global race of developing and owning biomedical intellectual property.

Dr Bennett said that with the right support from government and industry, health and medical research could hold the key to Australia's future prosperity in a global knowledge economy.

She said the Government has already taken a welcome first step by forming a taskforce to advise on ways to encourage more investment by the private sector, however, commitment to other key recommendations in the Grant Report such as continued growth of Commonwealth Government funding and the future structure of the National Health and Medical Research Council was still necessary.

Professor Vitale said the vibrant biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries in the US today are a clear example of what strategic investment can achieve.

"Their powerhouse status is the outcome of political strategies put in place 25 years ago and is reflected in a tenfold increase in the number of patents and royalty and licensing fees - amounting to US$1 billion a year - and a fourfold increase in corporate research funding."

Dr Bennett added that many countries like Japan, Canada and the UK, are now emulating the US approach by implementing significantly resourced strategies.

In April this year the European Commission announced it would double its research budget to 70 billion Euros over seven years to bolster growth and competitiveness, in order to catch up with American and Japanese spending on innovation, and transform the European Union into a knowledge-based economy.

"The Howard Government has already shown leadership by substantially increasing research funding four years ago and by announcing new infrastructure funding in its election campaign last year," said Dr Bennett.

"But if we do not continue the momentum we will quickly drop off the leader board, potentially costing this country billion of dollars in additional health care expenditure and lost business, jobs and export opportunities."