Health: Research
(asked on 4th June 2019) - View Source
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate his Department has made of the amount UK Research and Innovation has spent on research into (a) physical health conditions and (b) mental health conditions in each of the last 5 years.
We are increasing spending on R&D by £7 billion over 5 years by 2021-22. This will be the largest increase ever.
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), a partner organisation of BEIS, funds research relating to health. Funding decisions are based on the quality of the proposals, with researcher-led proposals welcomed into any aspect of human health, with the primary considerations being research excellence and importance to health.
Within UKRI, the Medical Research Council (MRC) is the primary, but not exclusive, funder of medical research. Over the last five years, MRC has provided the following health funding:
MRC Health Research (HRCS) | 2013/14 (£) | 2014/15 (£) | 2015/16 (£) | 2016/17 (£) | 2017/18 (£) |
All Health Categories | 617,605,780 | 625,128,039 | 723,428,975 | 599,790,930 | 585,079,573 |
Of which Mental Health | 30,240,645 | 31,222,399 | 30,585,328 | 28,557,922 | 39,879,007 |
Of which Neurological | 79,901,444 | 79,832,753 | 109,809,894 | 80,286,626 | 74,631,328 |
All Prevention Research | 26,587,238 | 24,479,417 | 22,348,094 | 24,157,949 | 30,297,781 |
Of which Mental Health | 815,707 | 587,725 | 453,152 | 391,856 | 415,533 |
Of which Neurological | 17,006 | 22,812 | 25,047 | 33,037 | 36,383 |
Please note this does not represent the MRC’s entire research spend as some investments, such as infrastructure and underpinning research are not included in the analysis.
Research relating to mental health is funded by all UKRI councils. As well as UKRI, other government bodies fund health research, such as the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). The UK Clinical Research Collaboration undertakes UK Health Research Analysis. An analysis of data for 2018 is expected to the published in summer 2019. The most recent report (in 2014) included data from seven of UKRI’s nine councils as well as other government departments and charitable organisations. The report and data are available at https://hrcsonline.net/reports/analysis-reports/
Further related initiatives include:
- In May 2019, the UK Prevention Research Partnership (an alliance of 12 major funders of health research, including four UKRI councils, health and social care departments across the four UK nations and charities) invested over £25 million into addressing challenges regarding non-communicable disease and poor mental health and wellbeing. Further information can be found at https://mrc.ukri.org/news/browse/25-million-funding-awarded-to-leading-disease-prevention-projects/
- UKRI Mental Health Networks support prevention alongside targeted mental health care
On 5 December 2018, the government announced up to £79 million of Industrial Strategy funding for a new programme of research that will harness the power of artificial intelligence and big data to dramatically change the way major diseases are detected, diagnosed and treated. The funding, which forms part of the government’s Life Sciences Sector Deal 2, will support the establishment of a landmark cohort of up to five million people to take part in research aimed at revolutionising early detection and diagnosis of a range of diseases, including Alzheimer’s and other dementias. The programme will bring together the NHS, industry and leading charities including Alzheimer’s Research UK, Cancer Research UK and the British Heart Foundation.