Kidneys: Research
(asked on 27th February 2015) - View Source
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of overall health research funding was invested in renal research in each year from 2008; and what plans he has to increase funding for such research in the next five years.
From 2008-09, spend on research funded directly by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) has been categorised by Health Research Classification System health categories. NIHR expenditure on research infrastructure and systems where spend cannot be attributed to health categories is excluded. The following table shows NIHR spend in the health category ‘renal and urogenital’ as a proportion of total categorised spend and as a proportion of total revenue expenditure.
Year | Categorised % | Total revenue % |
2008/09 | 1.3 | 0.5 |
2009/10 | 1.7 | 1.0 |
2010/11 | 1.6 | 1.0 |
2011/12 | 1.7 | 1.1 |
2012/13 | 2.0 | 1.5 |
2013/14 | 2.3 | 1.7 |
The usual practice of the NIHR is not to ring-fence funds for expenditure on particular topics: research proposals in all areas compete for the funding available.
The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including renal disease and care. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality. In all disease areas, the amount of NIHR funding depends on the volume and quality of scientific activity.