A$127.9 million boost for Australian medical researchers

Australian Minister for Health Tanya Plibersek this week announced A$127.9 million ($134.8 million) for 151 grants for ground-breaking health and medical research across Australia, noting that, as a result of this investment, medicines were the country’s biggest research-intense goods exports, helping to build a stronger, more competitive and more productive economy.

Ms Plibersek said: “Continued government investment in research enables development of effective new treatments and new policy solutions in our health system. Cures, vaccines and better treatments for HIV are an urgent and global health priority. In Australia, HIV is a serious disease with infections increasing by 8% in 2011,” said Ms Plibersek, adding: “This research will study how HIV can lie dormant in some parts of the body, evading eradication by HIV therapy, as well as how the immune system responds to the virus.”