$70M funding lift for health research welcomed

10 May 2005

$70M funding lift for health research welcomed

The Health Research Council of New Zealand welcomes the funding boost of $70M over the next four years announced today by the Hon Steve Maharey.

Dr Bruce Scoggins, HRC Chief Executive, says the HRC is delighted with the increased funds that will go a significant way towards meeting the gap between the number of high quality research projects the HRC would like to fund and those it has been able to fund.

“This new money will support additional grants and awards to strengthen research in a number of key areas, such as disability, cancer control and primary care,” he says.

Approximately $9M of the new funding will be earmarked for new health research training fellowships that will support young New Zealand researchers in the early stages of their careers.

HRC Chair, Professor Graeme Fraser is very pleased by this very significant increase in funding for the HRC and sees the funding increase as recognition of the high performance of the health research sector and an investment in improved health for every New Zealander.

“New Zealand health researchers perform extremely well and their achievements are widely recognised internationally. The health of all New Zealanders benefits from their work”, he says.

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