Research funding of medical and health research from government and private sources rose in 2007 to reach approximately $122.4 billion, a modest increase from the $116 billion spent the previous year. The 5.5 percent increase barely allowed research to keep pace with the overall rise in healthcare costs, according to a report from Research!America. The Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group says the numbers show a stagnation relative to total health costs, a trend that began in 2004. In all, the investment in research represents just 5.5 percent of the $2.25 trillion projected for 2007 health spending in the United States.

 

“Across all sectors, inflation is eating up the small spending increases,” the report says. “We are investing only 5.5 cents of the total health dollar in the research that can help us solve current and emerging health issues.”

 

The report finds that spending by sector on health-related research was flat or rose just slightly from 2006. In fact, the combined health research budgets of the National Institutes of Health and other federal agencies decreased from 2006 to 2007 after accounting for biomedical inflation, maintaining a trend that began in 2004. For NIH, the largest funder of biomedical research in the government, its $29.1-billion budget represented the fourth consecutive decrease in budget relative to inflation.

Industry spending on health research increased slightly to nearly $68.3 billion in 2007, up from $64.5 billion the previous year. The modest growth was overshadowed by the fact that flattening in government funds has in the past led to a similar flattening in private funding, Research!America says. Health research funded by universities, independent research institutes, voluntary health associations, foundations, and state and local governments combined rose to $16 billion last year. That compared to $13.7 billion in 2006.

 

“Cuts in spending power have had devastating effects on the research community and young scientists in particular,” says John Edward Porter, chair of Research!America. “Without real growth in our federal research investment, we lose the innovation that has built our economy and represents our future. Science will only be a funding priority if we do something about it.”