Media Release: Monday 5 September 2016
A new poll released has revealed 87 per cent of Australians support the Federal Government’s Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF).
The Roy Morgan Research poll conducted for Research Australia, also shows 78 per cent of Australians believe the MRFF will lead to better health outcomes.
“It is clear there is significant support for the Medical Research Future Fund and Australians want to see it become a reality,” said CEO of Research Australia, Nadia Levin.
“The MRFF will make an enormous difference to the health of Australians and the health of our economy, and people realise that and the contribution of medical research.
“The community recognises medical research is paramount to improving health outcomes and want to see the best possible innovation in medical breakthroughs brought from the laboratory into hospitals and medical clinics.
“They see stories about potential medical breakthroughs and new hope on their TVs – and they want to then see that reflected in their hospitals and doctor’s surgeries as soon as possible.
“The MRFF is a key to bridging this gap, providing new therapies, treatments, drugs and devices that will directly benefit Australians.”
The poll also found that:
- 88 per cent of people rated ‘basing healthcare on the best and most recent research’ as key to improving the health system, compared to reducing waiting times in emergency departments (80 per cent) and more doctors in regional areas (78 per cent).
- One in five Australians (19 per cent) say they use an activity tracking device like a fitbitTM daily or nearly daily to track their activity, and three quarters of those would share the data if they could not be individually identified.
- 89 per cent of Australians reported consulting a doctor in the last 12 months, and 73 per cent of this group had used the internet to find out more about something their doctor had told them. The age group most likely to do this was 25-34 years olds (82 per cent), but even 69 per cent of those aged 65 and over had used the internet in this way.
“Australians recognise that medical research plays a vitally important role in improving the effectiveness of the health system and this latest research confirms that,” said Levin.
“We along with our alliance members, are extremely excited about working with the government on the MRFF policy settings and projects over the coming weeks and months.”
Research Australia is an alliance of 160 members and supporters advocating for health and medical research in Australia. For more information and to download the full Polling Report go to www.researchaustralia.org/public-opinion-polling
Media Contact: Phil McCall 0438 619 987 or 02 9234 3822
