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Hoang Hong Luu 20204121 Final Essay
Hoang Hong Luu 20204121 Final Essay
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TABLES OF CONTENTS
Introduction...........................................................................................................2
Conclusion.............................................................................................................5
REFERENCES......................................................................................................6
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FUNDING MEDICAL RESEARCH INTO DISEASE: LOW-RISK
Introduction
Over the past few decades, various deadly infectious diseases caused by new strains or
evolved viruses have attacked human life continually with the succession of SARS, MERS,
ZIKA, EBOLA, and other perilous influenza illness. Thus, the priority concern for centuries is
still “How the era of epidemics comes to an end?”. The bacteria that will trigger the world's
next plague are already among us, and the illness breakout is unpredictable. Conversely, these
lurking pathogens will likely follow the path that previous contagions blazed. The critical
lesson learned form past experiences is that we cannot continue to do the same as we have
done before; moreover, the preparation for continuous funding support and other intervention
measures are imperative for the next pandemics. This essay is dedicated to emphasizing the
great importance of government’s funding medical research into disease. To achieve that end,
the essay first discusses the impacts of funding research into disease on three different aspects:
medical advancement, economic growth, socio-political development and then some concerns
over issue.
First of all, funding research into disease has led to substantial discoveries, the new
finding thorough disease prevention and highly effective treatment, a series of clinical research
have been conducted annually. For example, during the period 1974 – 1922, more than 9,000
beast cancer patients from across The United States participated in clinical research in the
University of San Antonio. Researchers had analysed these databases meticulously and finally,
they identified the HER-2 oncogene as “a significant predictor of both overall survival and
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time to relapse in patients with breast cancer” (Slamon et al., 1987). Many other results from
medical research can provide important information about disease trends, risks factors,
outcomes of treatment or public health interventions. This information has indicated not only
the efficacy but also the adverse effects of medical interventions such as new drugs or
vaccines.
Funding medical research on new diseases have also paved the way for a more radical
and thorough preparation for the next pandemic. In-depth medical study conducted in 2020
demonstrated that the SARS-CoV in 2003 and the SAR-CoV-2 in 2019 had structural and
replication similarities, as well as host cell infection receptor recognition and proteolytic
activation (Rossi et al., 2020). According to Jia and Wu (2020), between 2007 and 2009, a
series of clinical studies of SARS vaccinations shown some effectiveness, but the experiments
were halted due to a lack of ongoing financing. Consequently, investing significantly and
from "dropping the ball" in related research after pandemics. Furthermore, the studies on
disease trends and possibilities of infection at the national levels will provide enough
diagnostics, vaccines, and drugs, as well as infrastructure for any potential emerging epidemic
or pandemic.
The impact of funding medical research into disease in the healthcare is widely
understood, however an equally important but less well-acclaimed relationship exists between
research, both governments and firms that hold medical research may benefit handsomely from
the sale of vaccinations and treatments. As Michael and Manas (2021) reported, “The sales of
the COVID-19 vaccine are likely to reach $36 billion in 2021 and $29 billion in 2022, above
analyst expectations in both years.” Moreover, “The American pharmaceutical company said it
is looking to secure new vaccination agreements with governments, which may boost sales
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even more next year.”. Consequently, not only does it increase economic potential in the fields
of medicine and pharmaceuticals, but it may also help the government save money on vaccine
purchases.
Besides business benefits, investing more capital in disease research have a great ability
in limiting the risk of economic crisis caused by the epidemic. In 2019, the new coronavirus
(SARS-CoV-2) leads to severe lung infection and unique pneumonia disease, namely the
COVID-19 that severely destroyed national economy. Its stringers a global crisis in health and
slowing international trade and commerce due to strict measures for quarantine. However,
these damages can be lessened if we go ahead and stay ahead. The goal of insight medical
research into disease is the improvement in human health and longevity which will lead to
Additionally, funding medical research into disease is expected to bring about long-
enables one country to increase political advantages in the region. For instance, France has
recognised as the second contributor in ensuring access to medicines globally through its
contribution to the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria (“Paris to serve as
host city for World Malaria Day 2019,” 2019). Aside from the political benefits, vaccine funds
from infectious illness research contribute to community immunity, which has a significant
influence on social security. Covid vaccination is offered at no cost to recipients in the United
States because of Pfizer's research (“Covid-19 vaccines are free to the public,” 2021). Finally,
Medicine is critical in the fight against illness, and this is especially true when new
illnesses emerge to endanger human health. Nonetheless, there are also some reservations about
this matter.
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2. Concerns over medical research fund into disease
Is this too expensive for a preparation and are people worrying too much for an
unpredictable future? In fact, what we have paid for directly facing with continued infectious
disease including SARS, MERS, ZIKA, EBOLA is uncountable, and we should stay ahead of
the game to minimum unnecessary damages from it. Moreover, some infectious pathogens
often have the same genotype so that we can easily predict the disease trends and risk factors.
Developments for medicine are never superfluous since the more the environment degrade, the
stranger disease appear, and we must find the solution before doomsday disaster.
Conclusion
In a nutshell, it is obvious that medical research fund has contributions not only in
Politics, Society, Economics but also Medicine and it gradually becomes an urgent preparation
for the future prevention to control infectious and non-communicable diseases. Therefore, it is
high time for government to make urgent, radical, and fundamental change for next pandemic
REFERENCES
(1) Covid-19 vaccines are free to the public. (2021, November 3). CDC. Retrieved from:
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/no-cost.html
(2) Hegde, D and D C Mowery (2008), "Politics and funding in the US public biomedical R&D
system", Science 322(5909): 1797–1798. Retrieved from:
https://voxeu.org/article/when-government-increases-funding-research-disease-others-spend-
less
(3) Michael, E & Manas, M. (2021, November 3). Pfizer expects 2021, 2022 COVID-19 vaccine
sales to total at least $65 bln. Reuters. Retrieved from:
https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/pfizer-raises-covid-19-vaccine-
sales-forecast-36-billion-2021-11-02/
(4) Paris to serve as host city for World Malaria Day 2019. (2019, March 18). Ministry of Health.
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Retrieved from:
http://www.impe-qn.org.vn/impe-qn/en/portal/InfoDetail.jsp?area=58&cat=1075&ID=1286
(5) Rossi, G.A., Sacco, O., Machino, E. et al. (2020). Differences and similarities between SARS-
CoV and SARS-CoV-2: spike receptor-binding domain recognition and host cell infection with
support of cellular serine proteases. Infection, 48(665–669). Retrieved from:
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s15010-020-01486-5
(6) Slamon , J. K et al. (1987). Human Breast Cancer: Correlation of Relapse and Survival with
Amplification of the HER-2/neu Oncogene. Science, 237(4785). Retrieved from:
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.3798106