The University of Otago is taking aim at New Zealand's biggest killers after being chosen as lead of a multimillion-dollar research challenge.
Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce visited Otakou marae yesterday to launch the ''healthier lives'' national science challenge, which comes with $31.26 million of potential funding over 10 years and is being led by Otago University.
The challenge is aimed at reducing the impact of New Zealand's biggest killers - cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and obesity - with a target of reducing by 25% their overall burden on the health system by 2025.
Mr Joyce told the Otago Daily Times that Otago University being chosen as host for the challenge was yet another vote of confidence in the quality of health science research going on in Dunedin, after it was chosen as the lead of the ''ageing well'' challenge - which comes with up to $34.92 million in funding - earlier this year.
''I think what it says is that medical research from Otago is very strong,'' Mr Joyce said.
The healthier lives challenge involved 10 research partners around the country, but much of the research and funding would be Otago-based.
''It's logical that Otago and Auckland [universities] will be the biggest participants, just because of the numbers of researchers available.''
The director of the programme, Prof Jim Mann, highlighted the magnitude of the challenge it was facing, with New Zealand having ''very disturbing'' rates of non-communicable diseases.
The group of diseases it would be tackling accounted for the majority of premature deaths in New Zealand, he said.
''We have one of the highest rates of bowel cancer in the world, cardiovascular disease kills more than one in three New Zealanders, 8% of the population has type 2 diabetes and nearly two-thirds of adults are overweight or obese.
''We aspire to produce innovative research that will, by 2025, help to slash the burden of non-communicable disease by a quarter and by a similar degree reduce inequities in the risk of developing and surviving such conditions that Maori and Pacific peoples experience.''
Those conditions accounted for much of the ''stark'' inequalities in health outcomes among Maori and Pacific people compared with other New Zealanders.
Early research projects in the challenge included an Otago-led project to develop a genomic blood test to help identify the right treatment for patients with bowel cancer and malignant melanoma, and developing a mobile phone app aimed at supporting Maori and Pasifika communities.
