Research
Traditionally health research has been excluded from disease expenditure reporting. This section presents National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) expenditure for disease, research and health areas from 2018–19 to 2020–21.
- In 2020–21, $1.4 billion was spent through the NHMRC expenditure on disease, research and health
- The largest spending was for Neurological diseases ($199.7 million)
- This was followed by spending in equal shares for Cancer and Infectious diseases ($162 million each)
- Since 2018–19, the greatest spending each year has been for Neurological diseases
- In 2020–21, $0.9 million was for COVID–19 research
The table below shows the NHMRC expenditure for disease, research and health areas from 2018–19 to 2020–21. For a comparison of NHMRC expenditure for disease, research and health areas back for years 2011–12 to 2020–21, this can be downloaded from the data section.
Table 1: NHMRC expenditure for disease, research and health areas 2018–19 to 2020–21 ($ million)
Disease, research and health areas1 | 2018–19 | 2019–20 | 2020–21 |
|---|---|---|---|
Balance, Eye and Hearing Diseases | 22.1 | 21.9 | 22.1 |
Blood Diseases | 21.8 | 23.4 | 23.0 |
Cancer | 180.8 | 176.6 | 161.5 |
Cardiovascular Disease | 109.6 | 110.3 | 104.8 |
Congenital and Genetic Diseases | 108.3 | 108.0 | 96.4 |
Endocrine, Metabolic and Nutritional Diseases | 111.1 | 116.9 | 111.4 |
Environmental and Occupational Health | 17.2 | 17.9 | 19.0 |
Gastrointestinal Diseases | 39.7 | 43.9 | 44.3 |
Genitourinary Diseases | 41.1 | 41.6 | 37.4 |
Immunological Diseases2 | 80.7 | 79.3 | 75.8 |
Infectious Diseases | 164.4 | 167.9 | 161.6 |
Injury | 50.5 | 50.9 | 48.0 |
Mental Health3 | 108.3 | 107.5 | 101.1 |
Musculoskeletal Diseases | 50.7 | 48.6 | 43.9 |
Neurological Diseases | 210.5 | 215.9 | 199.7 |
Orofacial Diseases | 3.5 | 2.9 | 2.4 |
Reproductive Health | 67.2 | 70.0 | 69.6 |
Respiratory Diseases | 53.3 | 56.4 | 56.2 |
Skin Diseases | 11.4 | 10.8 | 10.6 |
COVID-19 |
|
| .9 |
Total | 1,452.23 | 1,470.65 | 1,389.57 |
Notes
- These disease, health and research topics are based on the International Classification of Disease (ICD) produced by the World Health Organisation.
- 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.
- Includes research into addiction.
Source: NHMRC.