Announcement from the Hon Greg Hunt MP, Minister for Health.
The brain cancer foundation set up by rugby league legend Mark Hughes has joined the Turnbull Government’s $100 million Australian Brain Cancer Mission, aiming to work together to tackle this terrible disease through medical research.
Newcastle Knights great Mark Hughes set up the Mark Hughes Foundation with his wife Kirralee after his own brain cancer diagnosis. The foundation has been scoring goals ever since through fundraising and awareness.
The foundation will contribute $2.5 million over the next five years under the new partnership with the Australian Brain Cancer Mission
The Turnbull Government has committed to matching fundraising dollar for dollar, up to $5 million with funding supporting medical research under the Mission.
While patient care and support has improved for suffers of brain cancer, the five year relative survival rate for brain cancer remains low, at around 22 per cent.
The Australian Brain Cancer Mission aims to double survival rates and improve the quality of life of people living with brain cancer over the next 10 years, with the longer term aim of defeating brain cancer.
I am thrilled to have the Mark Hughes Foundation sign onto the Australian Brain Cancer Mission, and join with us to defeat this horrible illness.
When we announced the Mission last year, the Government provided $50 million through the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF), combined with $10 million from the Minderoo Foundation’s Eliminate Cancer Initiative and a commitment of $20 million from Cure Brain Cancer Foundation.
Only last week we announced Carrie Bickmore’s Carrie’s Beanies 4 Brain Cancer join the mission.
I welcome others to join with us and help make brain cancer history.
The Australia Brain Cancer Mission seeks to coordinate national research, clinical and funding efforts to make a difference.
A key objective of the Brain Cancer Mission is to ensure every patient, adult and child has the opportunity to participate in clinical trials.
This will be done by investing in more clinical trials, new discovery work, further international collaborations, and expanding research platforms and technologies, and fostering the talent of our researchers.
The Australian Brain Cancer Mission is a partnership between the Federal Government, philanthropists, medical experts, patients and their families.
In the long-term our goal is to defeat brain cancer through world-wide collaboration.