We need more money from the MRFF to be released, with more flexibility about what the funds can be used for.
As a cardiologist and researcher, I have dedicated my life to preventing heart attacks and heart disease. When working in the lab with other researchers, I see the progress we’re making toward a future where heart disease is no longer a threat.
I can now offer novel cutting-edge treatments and life-changing genetic screening to my patients, which simply didn’t exist when I began my career.
My career is based on fixing problems and helping people, but there’s one thing I can’t fix – the broken funding system meant to support our medical research institutes.
The federal government is aware of the issue and is in the process of developing Australia’s first National Health and Medical Research Strategy.
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A total review is welcome news – but it will take time and unless critical elements are repaired by the newly-elected government, the damage may be irreversible. By the next election, it could be too late as research programs may be discontinued, jobs will be lost, and with them, the potential to save countless lives.
The repair to our medical research funding system must be holistic, and I fully support the development of the new national strategy.
But in the meantime, we need urgent action to help Australia’s medical research institutes, many of which are operating at a financial loss because of the limited support available. Recent modelling has shown that some will shut their doors by 2029. This is shocking – and unacceptable.
There are two simple changes that could be made which medical research institutes are pressing for this election.
The first is the release of unspent money from interest earned by the Medical Research Future Fund.
The MRFF fund was created by the federal government back in 2015 to support medical research in Australia. There are two major issues with the fund – the first is that it is earning interest but not all of the interest is being released. It’s just sitting there, unused, while the recommended annual spend is being undercut by as much as $350 million.
If the government commits to reinvesting more of the interest earned into health and medical research, it doesn’t add to national debt, nor does it hurt the back pocket of Australians.
This is money already earned, intended to be spent on life-saving research that would make a real difference to the sustainability of medical research in Australia.
The second issue is that the funding which is being released is tightly restricted and rarely funds the true cost of research projects.
For example, it cannot be used to pay for vital infrastructure, like new equipment that could accelerate research discoveries or provide individualised diagnostic results – things like a machine to screen for genetic mutations which can tell someone if they are more likely to have a cardiac arrest – this type of infrastructure should be eligible for funding support.
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As the gap between what grants cover and what research actually costs widens, these essential tools are increasingly out of reach.
These things aren’t “nice to haves”. They’re essential to our research. Yet the money is tied up in ways that make it difficult for institutes to do the research needed to ultimately benefit patients.
We need more money from the MRFF to be released, with more flexibility about what the funds can be used for. Making these changes now could buy us a few more years while we wait for other reforms, including outcomes from the development of the national strategy.
These two simple changes will have a significant positive impact on the livelihood of all Australians, will benefit our healthcare system, and our economy.
One of the most common questions I’m asked by my patients is:
“Will my kids or grandkids inherit my condition? Will they have a heart attack or cardiac disease?”
I feel confident telling them that in the next couple of decades our knowledge of what drives heart disease will be transformed. We will be able to screen people and determine their risks of developing a whole host of diseases. There will be personalised medicines tailored to their precise condition and preventative treatments to reduce the likelihood of develop debilitating or life-threatening diseases.
It can be done, but only if medical research institutes are fully funded.
Professor Jason Kovacic is director of the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute.
This article was first published by the Association of Australian Medical Research Institutes. Read the original here.