Ireland near bottom in Europe for spending on health research

Ireland would need at least a five-fold increase in medical research spending if it wanted to achieve a credible presence in a European context, according to the Health Research Board.

The board yesterday presented its 1997 annual report detailing how it spent its £4.5 million State budget for that year. The chairman, Prof Michael Murphy, described 1997 as the most significant in the board's 10-year history because of the Wellcome Trust's £1 million backing for Irish researchers. Ireland remained the poor relation in European medical research, however. "We ranked second from last in per capita expenditure on health research," Prof Murphy said. Spending was only a fifth of the UK's spend but Britain was ranked only eighth. The board, he said, would not be carrying out its statutory role if it did not highlight this low level of investment. The Wellcome contribution, £1 million a year for three years to be matched by equal State funding, had made a tremendous impact on medical research in the State, raising it by 60 per cent in a stroke, Prof Murphy said. The funds had allowed a range of initiatives, including support for eight post-doctoral researchers doing advanced work.

Work will include studies into the incidence of hepatitis B in the Irish population, research into the causes of Alzheimer's disease, a measurement of fluoride absorption in children and studies into the health of homeless men in Dublin.

Prof Murphy praised the contribution made by the late Dr Michael Kelleher, former head of the Suicide Research Foundation and Ireland's foremost researcher into the causes and incidence of suicide. He also thanked the retiring chief executive, Dr Vivian O'Gorman, for his commitment to the aims of the board.