From Phil McShane, John Radcliffe Hospital
Sylvia Pagán Westphal notes that the $27 billion annual budget of the US National Institutes of Health is “larger than many small countries” (4 October, p 54). It is certainly much larger than the $0.6 billion of the UK Medical Research Council.
The difference is not accounted for by the size of the economy. US GDP is about seven times the British. So the US, with its supposed hostility to public spending gives proportionately about five or six times as much money to medical research.
Nor should we suppose that charities make up the difference in the UK. The US is well supplied with them as well. In fact, one American charity spends as much on diabetes research in the UK as “Diabetes UK”.
How long are British scientists and the public, who will ultimately benefit, going to put up with this situation? Do they feel that a serious campaign to increase spending would be “too political” and might get their lab coats dirty? If it succeeded they could afford new ones!
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Oxford, UK
