Report: Norwegian children cancer research given lower priority

State Secretary Anne Grethe Erlandsen.Photo government.no

Norwegian research on cancer in children is given lower priority and lose out in the competition for research funding,  child cancer doctors say. According to a report Norway is lagging behind its Nordic neighbors.

The research on child cancer loses the battle for research funding for the most part, and Norwegian pediatric cancer physicians lack the resources to participate in collaborative research. This is revealed in a report prepared by  groups and persons including Norwegian pediatric cancer physicians with support from  the Children Cancer Society.
On the basis of the report the group, thinks that the Ministry of  Health and Care should require health authorities to prioritize child cancer research in order to receive a certain amount of funding.
– These funds are allocated through the regional health authorities and partly by the Norwegian Research Council. Research funding will be awarded for good applications. We do not want to allocate on the basis of certain diagnoses or groups of diagnoses, State Secretary Anne Grethe Erlandsen(The Ministry of Health and Care Services)told NRK news.

 

Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today