The Australian government today announced A$20 million for research to find targeted treatments for childhood cancer. In announcing the grant, for the Zero Childhood Cancer Program led by the Children’s Cancer Institute and Sydney Children’s Hospital, Health Minister Sussan Ley said:
Cancer has just passed cardiovascular disease as the leading cause of death in Australia and there is no more tragic diagnosis than when it’s in a child. We’ve invested A$12 billion into research since the year 2000… we know we’ve got more dollars to allocate to this really, really important research cause.
This generous funding will be major step toward finding better treatments for children with cancer. Australians have access to the world’s best treatments, doctors and health systems, yet there is a lack of safe, effective and affordable drugs to treat the most aggressive childhood cancers, such as some brain tumours.
