Letter: Effective funding of medical research
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Your support makes all the difference.Sir: In his feature on charitable funding of medical research Tom Wilkie gave a misleading impression when he stated:
Before very long nearly two-thirds of British medical research will be commissioned and paid for by charity.
In relation to publicly funded medical research, this statement may be true. In terms of total spending on medical research in this country, however, Dr Wilkie appears to have overlooked the pounds 1.2bn now being spent annually on research and development by British-based medicine manufacturers. This figure contrasts with the quoted figure of pounds 220m spent by the medical research charities in 1990-91.
Yours sincerely,
PETER LUMLEY
The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry
London, SW1
16 September
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