Exceptional economic returns on investments in medical research

The United States will invest nearly US$70 billion (US$260 per capita) on medical research this year, more than half of which will be sponsored by the biopharmaceutical industry. This investment has been shown to provide major gains in basic, disease-oriented and patient-oriented research. It also provides a huge economic return on investment--whether measured in terms of jobs created, health costs saved, or the dollar value of lives saved. Australia, whose investment in medical research is less than 10% that of the United States, should increase its national commitment.