Roundtable for medicinal cannabis research priorities - Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF)
Painaustralia Policy and Communications Manager, Priyanka Rai participated in a workshop organised by the MRFF to guide the development of a $3m Medicinal Cannabis Research Grant under the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF).
On 6 October 2019, the Minister for Health, the Hon Greg Hunt MP, announced that this funding will examine the benefits of medicinal cannabis for pain, symptom and side effect management for cancer patients. The Department is now working to design an open and contestable grant opportunity which is expected to open in mid-2020.
The purpose of the Roundtable was to support priority setting for the MRFF Medicinal Cannabis Research funding by identifying:
- gaps in current evidence, and
- research priorities that can be translated into improved management of pain, symptoms and side effects for cancer patients.
The workshop highlighted that there are several competing priorities around medicinal cannabis research, however as Painaustralia emphasised, incorporating the lived consumer perspective is essential, especially when it comes to prioritisation of what can and cannot be pursued within the limited government funding at our disposal.
The Senate Report on current barriers to patient access to medicinal cannabis in Australia has also been released. The report makes 20 recommendations and also notes Painaustralia’s submission, highlighting the need for more research and evidence about suitable doses of individual cannabis products which makes it difficult for practitioners to prescribe, despite community expectations that these products will be made available to treat chronic pain.
Read our submission to the Senate here.