Articles

Medical Research Spending Doubles

Public Agenda Alert
Sep. 22, 2005

Total U.S. spending on medical research has doubled in the past decade to nearly $95 billion a year, according to a report published this week in the
Journal of the American Medical Association. The analysis found that private industry sponsors the majority of medical research and the National Institutes of Health pays for 28 percent, a proportion that has remained unchanged over the past decade. But the study authors also questioned whether society is getting its money's worth.

The report on research spending comes as new attention is focused on the risk of a worldwide flu pandemic. Indonesia has been alarmed over an outbreak of deadly "bird flu," but the World Health Organization says there's no indication the virus has mutated into a form likely to start a pandemic. Two research studies published today also warn that flu vaccines are less effective than previously thought and that more strains are drug-resistant.

Public Agenda's Confidence in U.S. Foreign Policy Index found that six in 10 Americans say they worry at least somewhat that the U.S. may not be doing enough to protect against diseases like flu, SARS and "mad cow." But when compared to other concerns, contagious disease ranks well below other worries such as Iraq, terrorism, oil and immigration.

Four in 10 also say providing health care to countries where contagious disease is a threat would improve national security "a great deal," although improving intelligence gathering, tighter immigration control and showing more respect for
other countries ranked higher.

We examine science funding in our issue guide on Medical Research.

In general, surveys find the vast majority of Americans say conducting medical research is very important to improving public health and more than half of Americans give the health care system high marks for conducting medical research.

When asked about federal spending, Americans say they would like to see increases in many areas, but only a handful seem to be true priorities. Health care is often one of those priorities, yet even within that topic, the public has a long list of concerns it would like to see addressed besides research, including insurance coverage for children and preservation of Medicare.

Find out more about the public's worries in foreign policy: http://www.publicagenda.org/
foreignpolicy/foreignpolicy_worries.htm

And their views on possible strategies:
http://www.publicagenda.org/
foreignpolicy/foreignpolicy_strategy.htm

For more on public attitudes on Medical Research, visit our issue guide:
http://www.publicagenda.org/issues/
frontdoor.cfm?issue_type=medical_research

For additional background, visit these links:

Bird Flu Alert Unchanged Despite Indonesia (Reuters):
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9435935/

2 Studies Find Flu Treatments Fall Far Short (New York Times):
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/22/health/22flu.html

Study: $95 billion spent on medical research (AP):
http://www.cnn.com/2005/HEALTH/09
/20/medical.research.ap/index.html

The Next Pandemic? (Foreign Affairs):
http://www.foreignaffairs.org/2005/4.html

Copyright 2005 Public Agenda. For more information, visit www.publicagenda.org.

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