{"id":2206,"date":"2016-10-12T16:16:50","date_gmt":"2016-10-12T14:16:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2016\/10\/12\/gezondheidsraad-onderzoek-ook-gewone-ziektes\/"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:22:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:22:08","slug":"gezondheidsraad-onderzoek-ook-gewone-ziektes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2016\/10\/12\/gezondheidsraad-onderzoek-ook-gewone-ziektes\/","title":{"rendered":"Health Council: \u2018Research ordinary diseases as well\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRonald van den Heerik<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

University teaching hospitals should devote more of their medical research to issues encountered in daily practice. At present, the researchers tend to put too much emphasis on fundamental research and specialist issues.<\/p>\n

This was recently stated by the Heath Council of the Netherlands in its advisory report<\/a>\u00a0for the Dutch government entitled \u2018Onderzoek waar je beter van wordt\u2019 (\u2018Research that makes you better\u2019). In the course of their everyday work, general practitioners, nurses and municipal care workers run up against all sorts of problems that are given little to no attention by the academic research programmes.<\/p>\n

According to the Health Council, this is mainly due to the fact that funding programmes for medical research are based on performance. Important in this respect is that research findings are published in reputable academic journals and achieve high citation scores. And fundamental and specialist research have a particularly good chance of scoring high on these specific criteria.<\/p>\n

Closer communication with the field<\/h3>

A wider range of parties should be able to influence the evaluation and course of scientific research programmes at UMCs \u2013 including patients\u2019 associations, health insurers and municipal administrations. In addition, the university teaching hospitals need to work closer together with healthcare providers in their region.<\/p>\n

This will take time and money. The Council recommends that the Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport free up funds for the applied research that comes out of these partnerships. This would amount to a \u201cmajor change of tack\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Health Council\u2019s position is in line with a current sentiment that scientific research should pay stronger attention to issues in our society and be less focussed on publication in prestigious academic journals.<\/p>\n

Arguing for a clear social purpose is hardly new<\/h3>

For example, the pressure group Science in Transition has been calling for scientific research with a pronounced social focus for some years already. Last spring, its founder Frank Miedema, Dean of UMC Utrecht, said: \u201cTake research into rehabilitation, for example. It\u2019s highly relevant to the general public. But I really need to fight to secure funding for this kind of research, because the leading academic journals published in the US are not particularly interested in it.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a strong chance that the Council\u2019s recommendations will be well received, since the government has wanted scientific research to serve a clearer economic and social purpose for quite some time now. A number of recent coalitions have tried to encourage collaboration between the academic community and the private sector, through all sorts of policy measures. At the moment, these partnerships are being pursued within the so-called \u2018top sectors\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u2018It\u2019s unwise to adopt a short-term perspective\u2019<\/h3>

The university teaching hospitals do not subscribe to the Council\u2019s recommendations, said a representative of their umbrella organisation NFU in de Volkskrant<\/em>. According to NFU, the Health Council does not seem aware of the degree to which the hospitals have already embraced collaboration with third parties.<\/p>\n

In addition, in NFU\u2019s view, we should not underestimate the importance of fundamental research: \u201cWe owe many of the procedures used in today\u2019s healthcare to fundamental research performed at an earlier stage. It\u2019s unwise to adopt a short-term perspective.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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