Organizing Medical Research Programs to Meet the Health Needs of Americans

Abstract

Medical research produces the knowledge upon which the preservation of personal and community health is based. The remarkable achievements of medical science in the prevention and treatment of disease are a direct result of medical research, best illustrated by the twenty-year increase in life expectancy at birth in the United States since 1900. Research has made possible the control of infectious diseases and diseases of birth and early childhood. More people are now reaching age sixty, but relatively little progress has been made in extending life expectancy for those who do. Current major health problems for attack through research include a variety of chronic diseases, especially cancer, heart disease, and mental illness. Needless suffering and annual costs of $35 billion from disease and disability justify the nation's full develop ment of its medical research potential. This will require uni versities, schools in the health professions, and other research institutions to train greater numbers of talented medical investigators and provide increased opportunities under favor able conditions for their work. These conditions include encouragement of excellence, stable careers, adequate facilities, operating support, arrangements for interdisciplinary collabo ration, and freedom of the qualified scientist to follow where his research leads. Techniques for this program are known. Annual support from all sources, about $890 million in 1961, will need to reach perhaps $3 billion by 1970.