Joint funding of 4.5 million SGD will support five research teams based in Singapore and Australia working on research projects that will address infectious diseases including tuberculosis, dengue fever and influenza.

The projects will be conducted under research collaboration between the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) in Singapore and the National Health and Medical Research Council in Australia (NHMRC).

A joint press release says that the A*STAR will contribute 2.2 million SGD to the funding with the remaining 2.3 million SGD by the NHMRC.

A*STAR Chairman, Lim Chuan Poh, was quoted as saying that “Our experience in the past decade with SARS, avian flu and H1N1 has taught us that in an increasingly connected world, understanding and managing emerging infectious diseases are a matter of highest priority for all countries. By partnering with our colleagues from Australia, we will be able to develop new approaches to better combat these threats to this region and the world.”

Infectious diseases affect the health and productivity of hundreds and thousands of people in Australia and around the region each year. This collaboration demonstrates Australia’s capacity to join other world-leading research bodies and achieve much more than if countries tried to tackle these issues individually, said NHMRC CEO, Professor Warwick Anderson.-VNA