International research collaboration
International and global news
International research collaboration
Keywords: International collaboration, Research, Asia-Pacific,Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom
Australia, New Zealand and the UK-based Wellcome Trust are collaborating in work to address Asia-Pacific regional health problems. Millions of people,including children, die of what could be preventable diseases each year in the Asia-Pacific region. Others are killed or injured on the roads or die from acute pesticide poisoning; millions are infected by parasites; disorders related to pregnancy and childbirth are a major health issue; still more are afflicted by diabetes and heart disease; obesity rates are rapidly escalating.
Federal Minister for Health and Ageing, Senator Kay Patterson, announced that Australia had committed more than $11m through the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), in a high-powered international collaboration with the UK and New Zealand, to try to address these significant regional health problems.
Announcing the projects, Senator Patterson said the innovative scheme was an exciting venture which could have benefits world-wide and would harness the significant scientific talent that exists in Australia, New Zealand and a range of countries in the region. She said: "These are the first collaborative projects funded under this international scheme in what I hope will be an ongoing partnership between our three countries.
"These projects will not only focus on some of the most pressing health concerns of the region, they will provide valuable two-way training and any research outcomes have the potential to be ground-breaking and of use to countries world-wide facing similar health problems".
Similar announcements were also made in London and Wellington by the director of the Wellcome Trust, Dr Mark Walport and the chief executive of the Health Research Council of New Zealand, Dr Bruce Scoggins. Dr Walport said The Trust had a long-standing commitment to tropical medicine and other health issues which affected the poorer nations of the world. He said: "It's particularly gratifying to see the diversity amongst the 11 research programs that will be supported and the range of developing countries involved. It is also important to point out that this is the first time the Trust has joined with governments outside the UK, to fund a specific program. The success of this endeavour gives us confidence that such partnerships will, in the future, be one way by which to maximise the impact of funding for research to improve health".
Dr Scoggins added that one exciting aspect of the collaboration was that it made a major contribution to capacity building for research for Pacific people.
