Research
Over the past six years, Cancer Control New Zealand (CCNZ) has considered the state of cancer research in New Zealand, particularly in terms of funding and coordination of research interests. In 2005 a stocktake of cancer funders within New Zealand was undertaken, which showed a total of 67 agencies and companies that funded cancer control research within New Zealand, with an average yearly funding total of NZ$31.73 million. The stocktake identified that biomedical research was the predominant category of cancer control research being carried out in New Zealand and represented 77 percent of the total investment. Clinical research accounted for 16 percent of the research, while health services and public health research accounted for 5 percent and 2 percent respectively. The board of CCNZ expressed concern that there was uneven investment across the Cancer Control Strategy goals, with 77 percent of funding attributed to Goal 3: “Ensure effective diagnosis and treatment of cancer to reduce cancer morbidity and mortality”. By comparison, research relating to Goal 4 of the Strategy, “Improve the quality of life for those with cancer”, and to Goal 5, “Improve the delivery of services across the continuum of cancer control”, each received 1 percent of funding. In addition, investment in projects specifically relating to Maori and Pacific peoples made up only 6.37 percent of the total.
A key concern is that there has not been the “development of a single body to be responsible for identifying and remedying gaps in the spectrum of cancer research in New Zealand”, as laid out in the Cancer Control Strategy. CCNZ feels that this prioritisation role should not lie (perhaps by default) with specific funding bodies, constrained by their own funding criteria, but should be undertaken by a collaborative group brought together with the specific purpose of identifying the gaps in an objective manner.
CCNZ has continued to assess cancer research, including through the development of a Research Advisory Group in late 2010. This group is now considering the development of a cancer research proposal which will encompass:
1. a collaborative plan, in which CCNZ will work together with the HRC, the Ministry of Health and other cancer funding non-governmental organisations;
- to clearly define the priorities for cancer research in New Zealand
- to identify the gaps in the spectrum of cancer research
- to determine exactly how much funding is available from these various bodies on an annual basis
2. a cooperative scheme, which will be effective at;
- better coordination of funding of priority-drive cancer research
- funding of research which can impact on practice and policy, and improve outcomes
- fostering collaboration between cancer researchers to build New Zealand’s cancer research capacity
- fostering consumer participation in cancer research, from design to implementation
It is important to note that in the foreseeable future it is unlikely that there will be any significant increases in overall funding for cancer research in New Zealand, given the effects of the global economic crisis and the recent earthquakes in New Zealand which will have a major impact on all government spending. Working within this financial constraint will be one of the major challenges for the research community, while the benefits will include increased efficiencies, streamlined projects, research focused on cancer control priority areas and reduced duplication of research efforts.
