Medical Research

Sir, - Readers of Fintan O'Toole's column of August 28th would be forgiven for thinking that little worthwhile medical research…

Sir, - Readers of Fintan O'Toole's column of August 28th would be forgiven for thinking that little worthwhile medical research is carried out in Ireland and that medical consultants strangle such efforts at birth. At this years' American Gastroenterology meeting, the most prestigious gastroenterology meeting in the world, Canadian investigators reported that Ireland produced far more research per clinician than any other country in the world. Not bad for a country where "there's no incentive to do original work"! Knowing the reputation and research output of colleagues in other disciplines, I suspect the same may also be true in other fields.

What is not in dispute, however, is the woeful lack of State funding for medical research in a country rich in material and educational resources. Much of the work that has enhanced Ireland's reputation is preformed by biomedical graduates who are paid a pittance, many of whom are subsequently headhunted by US institutions or forced to move to better paid jobs in industry. This talent will continue to be lost to medical research in Ireland until there is a dramatic and realistic increase in resources.

Journalists such as Fintan O'Toole can greatly help create a climate for change, but not by the ritual knocking of the consultant body. Credit should be given for the top-class clinical research already produced in this country on a shoestring budget. - Yours etc.,

Diarmuid O'Donoghue,

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Deptartment of Gastroenterology,

St Vincent's Hospital,

Dublin 4.