Canadians support medical spending – is government listening?

BIOTECanada has just released the results of a poll conducted by Angus Reid which assessed public sentiment towards health and medical research.  The poll was conducted in December 2009 and includes the views of of 1,003 Canadians.

Looks like it’s time to step up our support for this innovative sector!

Some highlights from the report:

  • 89% of Canadians say Canada should be a global leader in health research.
  • Respondents said health care was the third most important issue facing Canada (12%) after the economy (32%) and the environment (13%).
  • Canadians support spending 20 cents of every health care dollar on health and medical research (the actual spend is less than one cent).
  • Within health care, the main issue is access to treatment and services.
  • The allocation of resources should be 54.5% towards treatment and 45.5% towards prevention.
  • Canadians would like to see higher priority given to science and technology stories in the media.

So there you have it: Canadians care deeply about the health care sector and strongly support government spending to advance our capabilities and services.