Editorial - 23-16

It's been a long haul for Canadian policy makers aiming to increase the funding pool for health research. Since the 1990s when cash-starved health researchers were unable to compete internationally, a series of champions have advocated a simple target of 1% of health care costs devoted to research.

The creation of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) at the dawn of the millennium offered fresh hope that the target was being taken seriously. CIHR's budget expanded rapidly from $250 million to today's base budget of $829 million in FY09-10, but the 1% target has remained stubbornly elusive. Health care costs have escalated from approximately $100 billion 10 years ago to an estimated $170 billion today, outstripping the advances in health research funding.

CIHR's overall budget now stands at about 0.5% of health care costs and has actually been losing ground in its efforts to achieve the 1% target. New Statistics Canada data show that the agency's budget has been flat or declining over the past three years as requests for substantial funding increases have been unsuccessful (see page 3).

But the quest to reach the 1% target has not been abandoned. CIHR's new strategic plan is predicated on funding increases that would bring it into 1% territory after five years (see lead story). The arguments for boosting the CIHR budget to $1.7 billion by 2015 are persuasive from several perspectives, not the least of which is the future health of Canadians. The long list of pressing health challenges faced by our citizens demands significant new investment.