Research is not included as part of the AIHW Disease expenditure database. This section presents National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) expenditure for disease, research and health areas from 2021–22 to 2023–24.
- In 2023–24, $1.4 billion was spent through the NHMRC expenditure on disease, research and health areas
- The highest spending in 2023–24 was for Neurological Diseases ($189.2 million) followed by Infectious Diseases (including COVID–19) ($177.1 million), and Cancer ($173.1 million)
- Neurological diseases attracted the highest spending each year from 2021–22 to 2023–24
Table 2 below shows the NHMRC expenditure for disease, research and health areas from 2021–22 to 2023–24. A comparison of NHMRC expenditure for disease, research and health areas for years 2014–15 to 2023–24, can be downloaded from the data section.
Table 2: NHMRC expenditure for disease, research and health areas 2021–22 to 2023–24 ($ million)Disease, research and health areas1 | 2021–22 | 2022–23 | 2023–24 |
|---|
Neurological Diseases | 193.7 | 187.8 | 189.2 |
Infectious Diseases (including COVID-19) | 163.2 | 169.7 | 177.1 |
Cancer | 155.8 | 161.1 | 173.1 |
Congenital and Genetic Diseases | 90.5 | 94.9 | 112.4 |
Mental Health2 | 102.5 | 102.8 | 108.1 |
Endocrine, Metabolic and Nutritional Diseases | 110.6 | 108.2 | 103.3 |
Cardiovascular Disease | 100.5 | 94.1 | 97.0 |
Immunological Diseases3 | 71.0 | 76.0 | 83.1 |
Reproductive Health | 67.8 | 70.0 | 70.8 |
Respiratory Diseases | 55.9 | 53.5 | 51.9 |
Injury | 48.2 | 49.3 | 50.9 |
Musculoskeletal Diseases | 42.2 | 42.8 | 44.0 |
Gastrointestinal Diseases | 43.2 | 43.0 | 40.5 |
Genitourinary Diseases | 37.2 | 36.7 | 37.5 |
Blood Diseases | 23.0 | 25.1 | 28.1 |
Balance, Eye and Hearing Diseases | 23.6 | 24.1 | 25.3 |
Environmental and Occupational Health | 22.1 | 24.2 | 23.7 |
Skin Diseases | 11.2 | 10.2 | 9.9 |
Orofacial Diseases | 2.6 | 2.7 | 3.0 |
Total | 1,364.9 | 1,376.2 | 1,428.9 |
Notes:
- These disease, health and research topics are based on the International Classification of Disease (ICD) produced by the World Health Organisation.
- Includes research into addiction and research into eating disorders.
- The figures in the table above for Immunological Diseases have been modified to exclude immunological research specifically related to cancer. These figures relate to research relevant to allergy, autoimmune diseases, and immunodeficiency.
Source: NHMRC.
Figure 24 below compares the top 5 disease groups in terms of share of disease spending, share of disease burden (measured in terms of DALYs) and share of spending on research for 2015–16, 2018–19 and 2023–24. Cancer was the group with the highest share of disease spending and the highest share of disease burden in 2023-24 but the third highest for research spending.
