Medical Research In Australia Is Safe

It was raining heavily this morning in Melbourne. But you would not find anyone in the lab who was not bearing a victorious smile. The release of the 2011-2012 budget plan last night showed that medical research funding would not, as previously feared, be cut, but instead be increased by 4.3% from $715.5 million in 2010-2011 to $746.1 million. Relief and knowledge that the protests organized by medical scientists around Australia last month were worth the effort was more than enough to pretermit the abysmal weather.

Medical research is extremely important and the reasons why it should not be cut are endless. I've previously blogged about this here. So, yes, no cuts (indeed, a small increase) is good news and represents a win for science and the Australian population (and even the global populace).

Professor Doug Hilton, Head of the Department of Medical Biology at the University of Melbourne, in an article for newmatildo.com sums it up nicely:

"Last night the government delivered a budget in which NHMRC funding was maintained. While we may never know for sure the magnitude of cuts that had been discussed in early budget preparations, the Australian community's outrage at the suggestion that medical research funding could be cut should be remembered by any government planning a budget in the future. Australians understand the importance of medical research to improving the nation's health, and their elected representatives need to follow suit."

While celebrations are in order-and rightly so-the Australian government should be reminded that Australia's spending on research is still only at 1.6% of GDP, way short of the 3% mark of Scandinavian countries and the US. In fact, Australia's research spending is only average compared to other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. And as a wealthy country, this is a frankly disconcerting fact for Australia.

I cannot help but wonder what the reaction to this budget would have been had there not been the initial rumors of enormous cuts to medical research funding. The limelight then would have concentrated on the negatives perhaps: funding cuts of $33.4 million over four years to Co-operative Research Centres program (linking science with industry) and $20.7 million over two years to Collaborative Research Networks program (boosting research in smaller universities).

But then again, without those rumors, the government would have proceeded with the cutbacks to medical research funding and we would have been in a really bad place right now. So, maybe now is not the time to be too much of a pessimist.

Image credit: Todd Dailey (from Flickr)