The Federal Health Minister says Australia's handling of the coronavirus pandemic has put it in a prime position to become a leader in future medical research and clinical trials, bringing not only new medicines but new jobs to the country.
Key points:
- Greg Hunt says Australia could become a global leader in medical research post-coronavirus
- Research in countries hard hit by the virus has been halted by lockdowns and diverted resources
- Medical research institutes say they are ready for the opportunity but need more secure funding
Greg Hunt said the success of Australia's health response to the virus was internationally recognised and the national stockpile of gloves, gowns and masks had been bolstered in the past few months even as global supplies of personal protective equipment fell.
"One thing we can do, because we've been COVID safe, because our health system is seen as doing so well, we have a golden opportunity to be a global leader in attracting new medical research, technology and clinical trials to Australia," Mr Hunt said on Insiders.
"We want to work with the states to simplify the clinical trial process to really give Australians better access to medicines and better access to new medical jobs."
The Minister also said Australia had capacity to produce and distribute a COVID-19 vaccine, if it was developed, to the region, and domestic research into vaccines was ongoing.
President of the Australian Association of Medical Research Institutes (AAMRI) Jonathan Carapetis said Mr Hunt's comments were "absolutely spot on" and there was an opportunity to grow both pandemic-related research and other areas.
Professor Carapetis said Australia's reputation for having a stable medical research sector meant it could attract funding from international companies whose domestic institutes were halted because of the virus.
"We also have the ability to attract people from overseas … who right now are having trouble doing research, having trouble envisaging a stable place to do their research," he said.
"We could attract some of that talent here.
"I can tell you that the medical research sector and AAMRI will not be quiet about this, we are already working with organisations like Research Australia about how this is an opportunity for genuine reform of the sector."
Executive Dean of the University of Sydney's Faculty of Medicine and Health, Robyn Ward, said while she agreed with the Minister's comments, the sector was relying on everything continuing to improve so access to patients for clinical trials could resume.
"We are strategically in a good place in Australia. What we need to see though is the opening up of the access to those studies again, in a sense a return to normality," Professor Ward said.
"At this point it's not quite at that level yet."
Australia already 'punches above its weight'
Dean of the Australian National University's John Curtin School for Medical Research, Russell Gruen said in some regards Australia already was a global leader in the sector.
"There are areas in which Australia is very strong; my university and school for example have produced four Nobel Prize winners," he said.
"The investment of industry and philanthropy in Australia is much less than it is in US, Europe or the UK."
Professor Gruen said it was hard for Australia to keep ahead when other international institutes had access to more resources.
But Professor Carapetis and Professor Gruen, along with the executive director of South Australia's Health and Medical Research Institute, Steve Wesselingh, all agreed Australian institutes were currently in a much better position than others overseas.
"Right now we are extraordinarily productive in that area given that we're not trying to resurrect a health system that was decimated by COVID because we were able to skirt that extraordinarily well," Professor Wesselingh said.
He said one of the most important factors in growing the sector into the future would be greater investment by industry.
But Professor Carapetis said, given the economic downturn expected as a result of the pandemic, that may be more difficult than usual, exposing a "flaw" in the current funding system.
"The funding we provide for medical research in this country doesn't cover the full cost of actually doing that research," he said.
"Institutes have to sometimes cover 30 to 40 per cent of their budgets with extra dollars [from philanthropists and entrepreneurs] and these are going to be dramatically affected in the next few years as the economy hits rock bottom."
Professor Ward also said the impact of losing revenue from international student fees "couldn't be overstated" and would inevitably have an effect on universities' ability to do "high-quality and internationally competitive" research.
"So if we're to realise what the Minister has put out as a challenge and an incredible opportunity we are going to have to address some of those fundamental problems in the medical research system," Professor Carapetis said.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMicGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvbmV3cy8yMDIwLTA2LTE0L2Nvcm9uYXZpcnVzLW9wcG9ydHVuaXR5LWF1c3RyYWxpYS1tZWRpY2FsLXJlc2VhcmNoLWdsb2JhbC1sZWFkZXIvMTIzNTM3NTTSASdodHRwczovL2FtcC5hYmMubmV0LmF1L2FydGljbGUvMTIzNTM3NTQ?oc=5
2020-06-14 04:12:00Z
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