UAEM Calls for Canadian Government to Focus on Access
For Immediate Release: December 17, 2025
WASHINGTON, D.C. — UAEM submitted a brief to Canada’s House of Commons Standing Committee on Science and Research to push for a research and development (R&D) framework that strengthens the Canadian government’s commitment to funding biomedical R&D that addresses public health needs, and ensures access is a priority of the commercialization of innovation.
The Standing Committee on Science and Research is in the midst of a study on how to promote and grow private sector investment in research and development in Canada. The study will include an examination of "ways to work with researchers and institutes to advance the commercialization of innovation emerging from research at Canadian Universities to build a stronger innovative economy in Canada.”
The committee will produce a report for the House of Commons, with a request for a government response.
“Shifting more R&D investment and decision-making toward private interests risks turning Canadian health research into a narrow, profit-driven tool instead of a public good,” UAEM’s brief notes. “The historic lesson of insulin is that publicly led, publicly funded research, paired with deliberate decisions to treat health technologies as shared assets, can transform a fatal disease into a manageable condition for millions.”
UAEM calls for stronger public funding for biomedical R&D, especially to fund neglected health areas and public health priorities, and access conditions at both the federal and university level for biomedical research.
“Access must be a top priority for the House of Commons,” said Khardjatou Marianne Djigo, McGill University student and UAEM’s Canadian Access team lead. “The impact of Canadian R&D in Canada and globally will be stifled without access conditions that ensure it reaches those who need it.”
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