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Malcolm Turnbull meets cancer patients at Royal North Shore hospital in Sydney on Monday.
Malcolm Turnbull meets cancer patients at Royal North Shore hospital in Sydney on Monday. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP
Malcolm Turnbull meets cancer patients at Royal North Shore hospital in Sydney on Monday. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

Coalition pledges $200m for research into cancer, diabetes and heart disease

This article is more than 6 years old

Malcolm Turnbull to announce funding which also includes $29m for mental health research and $15.5m for Indigenous projects

Australia’s deadliest cancers will be targeted in a new wave of research funding, with the Turnbull government set to invest more than $200m into medical science projects.

The latest round of funding, administered through the National Health and Medical Research Council will see $38 million set aside for cancer research.

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare estimates that more than 47,000 people, will die from cancers this year – 131 people a day.

A further $5m will be devoted to children and young people with cancer, to help fund crucial research into more effective treatments.

The funding, which will be administered through CanTeen, an organisation focused on cancer’s impacting those under 25, will be used to establish new clinical trials into the deadliest of childhood cancers.

“This initiative will bring the latest medical innovations within reach of young people with cancer,” Turnbull said in a statement on Wednesday.

“There is nothing more tragic than childhood cancer. This funding will mean more young Australians will have access to life-saving clinical trials.”

A further $29m is earmarked for mental health research, with $23m headed to cardiovascular disease projects and $13m will be spent on diabetes and obesity research.

Indigenous health projects will receive $15.5m in funding, with another $15m dedicated to helping research which is focused on improving injury care.

All in all, 326 research projects have been awarded grants under the latest funding round, which health minister Greg Hunt said was aimed at supporting Australia’s researchers and scientists “make the next medical breakthrough”.

“Their work is helping to make a better tomorrow for all of us,” he said in the same statement.

A full list of the grant recipients is available on the NHMRC website: www.nhmrc.gov.au.

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