Health research will shape this century

By Dr Alan Bernstein

In today’s knowledge-based economy, health research is a key driver of economic growth. Our nation’s future prosperity and health is critically dependent on our ability to develop new scientific knowledge, to exploit it in Canada, to develop new products and services to alleviate all facets of disease, and to develop an innovative, cost-effective, and sustainable health system.

Last year, the Government of Canada set us on a bold new course with the creation of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. CIHR is Canada’s lead federal health research agency, supporting over 5,000 health researchers and research teams across the country. CIHR is bringing together all approaches to health research with a mandate to not only create knowledge but also to translate it into improved health for Canadians and a strengthened health system.

In 1993, Health Canada estimated that the economic burden of illness to Canada was $157 billion. A 1% decrease in this burden, or $1.57 billion, is three times CIHR’s current budget. That’s a threefold return on investment — exceptional in any market, particularly today’s. CIHR researchers have already produced results that have led to new treatments and prevention strategies, and generated savings to the health system.

Health research is also emerging as the principle driver of scientific discovery and technical innovation. Some of the most exciting areas of research today, in combinational chemistry, nanotechnology, computational methodologies, engineering and the social sciences, are being spurred on by new problems and opportunities in health research.

Canada boasts the world’s second largest biotech industry and it rests on the research supported by CIHR and its predecessor, the Medical Research Council. CIHR is playing a strategic role in fostering the pipeline of discovery, moving discoveries from the laboratory to the marketplace. For example, CIHR-funded researcher Tony Pawson’s work on proteins led to the creation of MDS Proteomics, a Canadian company at the leading-edge of proteomics.

Both the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance have made it a priority to move Canada from 15th to 5th in GERD. The Minister of Finance has reminded all of us that the G in GERD does not stand for Government, but for Gross Expenditure on R&D. If we are to get from 15th to 5th, health research is key and other sectors have a role to play. CIHR has spurred industry, health charities, and the provinces to step up to the plate. In 1990, for every $1 of federal government investment in health research, $5 was invested by these other sectors. Ten years later, this ratio has grown to 7:1.

Clearly, the tragic events of September 11th and the subsequent acts of bioterrorism have given us all pause. One of the obvious issues for Canada is future government spending. Where should our priorities now be? I would point out that investments in health research are more important than ever. Other countries, including the United States, have reaffirmed their commitments to health research, recognizing the importance and the unique opportunities that lie ahead in the life sciences.

As John Evans, Chair of the Board of the Canada Foundation for Innovation said “The most promising new scientific frontier will be in the biological and life sciences.” (Toronto Star, October 29, 2001). Here at home, recent opinion polls also show strong public support for further investment in health research (Pollara, October 2001).

We have embarked on an exciting voyage of discovery — not of the world around us, not of the universe that surrounds us, but of the inner world of our own health and life on this planet. Just as no one could have predicted the profound consequences of Christ-opher Columbus’ voyage of discovery, it’s impossible to predict where this revolution in health research will ultimately lead. Two things are clear. First, this revolution will transform everything, from our health care system to our views about our individual differences and shared our humanity. Secondly, Canada must not be a bystander. We must continue to be a central player in this exciting century of health research.

Dr Alan Bernstein is the President of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research