CORONAVIRUS —
MEDICAL RESEARCH
361. Ms J.J. SHAW to the Minister for Health:
I refer to the McGowan government's
unprecedented support for medical research in Western Australia.
Can the minister outline to the
house what support is being provided to Western Australian research projects—the
focus on the treatment of COVID-19 or projects that aim to give us a better
understanding of the virus?
Mr R.H.
COOK replied:
I thank the member for the question.
I am proud of the McGowan government and what it has been able to achieve in
health and medical research and innovation this term. It is pleasing that last
week's successful passing of the Western Australian Future Fund
Amendment (Future Health Research and Innovation Fund) Bill 2019, one of our
key election commitments, has made it possible for us to this week announce a $2.9
million boost to local research into COVID-19. The 12 Western Australian
research projects have been boosted with funding from the McGowan government,
with nearly $3 million funding going towards COVID-19-related research
infrastructure. Recipients come from a range of disciplines and work across
hospitals, universities, research institutes and biotech companies. This is about Western Australian companies doing
their bit to join other researchers around the world to find a vaccine or treatments for COVID-19. A total of $1.9 million
has been granted for research, which has been awarded to support
COVID-19-related research projects. Another $1 million has been provided for
infrastructure support, which will cover costs such as consumables, staffing
and site set-up for local COVID-19 research.
The funding for the 12 research
projects will go towards treatments, studies of at-risk groups, the development
of less invasive tests, studies of mental health impacts and tests that will
more accurately inform us about immunity to COVID-19. One of them is a project,
led by Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital respiratory specialist Dr Anna Tai, that
is looking into the effectiveness of transfusing active COVID-19 cases with
plasma from recovered patients—convalescent plasma. This is important
work looking into how we can prevent patients from deteriorating to the point
that they need to be hospitalised. The project will also see whether early
intervention can reduce the time it takes for a person to feel better or clear
the virus from his or her system. With Western Australia's current low
number of active cases, Dr Tai is collaborating with other research projects to
involve patients from other states and jurisdictions. In the absence of a vaccine
or treatment for COVID-19, Dr Tai's study will investigate the
therapeutic potential of convalescent plasma in treating COVID-19 patients in
the early stages of the disease. A full list of recipients for this round of
funding is available on the Department of Health website.
The more research we can support,
the closer we are to finding out more about this virus. As I have said on
multiple occasions, a vaccine is a long way away, but in the meantime, we can
find out more about this virus and we can work out what treatments are more
effective in dealing with it. Projects such as this are a fantastic example of
how we can continue to back research and innovation in Western Australia. The
McGowan government has made step changes in the way we fund medical research
and innovation research in this state. The passage of the future health
research and innovation fund bill last week represents an important milestone
as we become a world leader in medical research and innovation. I am very
pleased that we are able to be part of this latest measure to ensure that Western
Australia takes its place in the fight against COVID-19.