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(Stroke. 2004;35:2368.)
© 2004 American Heart Association, Inc.

Original Contributions

Underfunding of Stroke Research

A Europe-Wide Problem

Sarah T. Pendlebury, BM BCh, DPhil, MRCP; Peter M. Rothwell, MD PhD, FRCP; Ale Algra, MD PhD, FAHA; Marie-José Ariesen, MSc; Goksel Bakac, MD; Anna Czlonkowska, MD; Alexandra Dachenhausen, PhD; Yakup Krespi, MD; Janika Kõrv, MD PhD; Konrad Krolikowski, MD; Sergey Kulesh, MD; Patrik Michel, MD; Lars Thomassen, MD; Julien Bogousslavsky, MD Michael Brainin, MD PhD

From the Departments of Internal Medicine and Geratology (S.T.P.) and the Stroke Prevention Research Unit (P.M.R.), Department of Clinical Neurology, Radcliffe Infirmary, Oxford University, Oxford, UK; the Julius Centre for Health Sciences and Primary Care and the Department of Neurology (A.A., M.-J.A.), University Medical Centre of Utrecht, The Netherlands; the Department of Neurology 3 (G.B.), Bakirkoy Ruh ve Sinir Hastaliklari Hastanesi, Istanbul, Turkey; the Department of Neurology (A.C., K.K.), Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology, Warsaw, Poland; the Department of Neurology Donauklinikum and the Centre for Neurosciences (A.D., M.B.), Donau University, Maria Gugging, Austria; the Department of Neurology (Y.K.), Medical Faculty, Istanbul University, Turkey; the Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery (J.K.), University of Tartu, Estonia; the University Department of Neurology (S.K.), Grodno State Medical University, Grodno, Belarus; the Department of Neurology (P.M., J.B.), University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland; and the Department of Neurology (L.T.), Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway.

Correspondence to Prof Peter M. Rothwell, Stroke Prevention Research Unit, Department of Clinical Neurology, University of Oxford, Radcliffe Infirmary, Woodstock Road, Oxford, UK OX2 6HE. E-mail peter.rothwell{at}clneuro.ox.ac.uk

Background and Purpose— Previous studies in the United States and the United Kingdom have shown that stroke research is underfunded compared with coronary heart disease (CHD) and cancer research despite the high clinical and financial burden of stroke. We aimed to determine whether underfunding of stroke research is a Europe-wide problem.

Methods— Data for the financial year 2000 to 2001 were collected from 9 different European countries. Information on stroke, CHD, and cancer research funding awarded by disease-specific charities and nondisease-specific charity or government- funded organizations was obtained from annual reports, web sites, and by direct communication with organizations.

Results— There was marked and consistent underfunding of stroke research in all the countries studied. Stroke funding as a percentage of the total funding for stroke, CHD, and cancer was uniformly low, ranging from 2% to 11%. Funding for stroke was less than funding for cancer, usually by a factor of 10. In every country except Turkey, funding for stroke research was less than that for CHD.

Conclusions— This study confirms that stroke research is grossly underfunded, compared with CHD and cancer, throughout Europe. Similar data have been obtained from the United States suggesting that relative underfunding of stroke research is likely to be a worldwide phenomenon.

Key Words: coronary heart disease • health policy • neoplasms • public policy • stroke

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