The Issue Of Medical Research - 1548 Words

Polio. Smallpox. Yellow Fever. All three of these diseases have been eradicated in America. How? Thanks to medical research, an antidote was found for each of these diseases. There is no question that medical research is important to the medical world. However, could countries do without extensive focus on medical research? America spends the most on healthcare and medical research out of any other country yet their life expectancy is not even close to being the highest. On top of its inefficiency in America, drug trials and animal testing have been scrutinized for being inhumane. Nevertheless, medical research is necessary to the improvement to health care everywhere, but there are improvements that can be made to increase its†¦show more content†¦A good example of this would be the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Through this private organization, Bill and Melinda Gates provide funding for cancer research and other types of medical research (Mathiesen). The only problem with Kealey s alternative is that research costs are rising every year because of the public pressure to find cures for many of the world s most pressing diseases such as cancer; and with rising costs, many private organizations will not be willing to increase their funding for research projects. This is why government funding is still necessary but can be reduced drastically with private funding. The good thing is that many research project leaders are looking to private companies now than looking to the government for funding. Many influential executives have already been giving out funds for research, only last year David Packard, of Hewlett Packard, left $4 billion to his research foundation. His thousands of philanthropic predecessors include Howard Hughes (whose foundation spent $332 million on research in 1991); W. M. Keck ($95 million); John D. Rockefeller (whose foundation funded both the discovery of DNA as the genetic messenger and the development of penicillin); and And rew Carnegie(Kealey). These men, known mostly for their business achievements, have contributed heavily to the research world and the ones that are still alive even give scholarships to help students pursue their own