The Australian Federal Budget has announced a $26.9 million investment over 4 years to address allergy and anaphylaxis.
The funding will lead to the creation of two vital organisations, the National Allergy Council (NAC) and National Allergy Centre of Excellence (NACE), that will work together to deliver world-leading initiatives and research to improve consumer safety and prevent anaphylaxis deaths.
NAC will be formed from the existing National Allergy Strategy, continuing the partnership between the Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy (ASCIA) and Allergy & Anaphylaxis Australia (A&AA), the leading medical and patient support organisations for allergy in Australia.
The existing Centre for Food & Allergy Research (CFAR) will expand to become NACE. NACE will generate and synthesise the evidence base that underpins the activities of the proposed NAC, to support evidence-based management of allergic disease.
In media reports surrounding the budget announcement, Maria Said, Co-Chair of the National Allergy Strategy and CEO of AA&A said Australia has been termed the ‘allergy capital of the world’. According to Maria, more than 5 million Australians are living with allergic disease and hospital admissions for life-threatening allergic reactions are continuing to rise.
The funding is in response to the 2019 Parliamentary Inquiry into Allergies and Anaphylaxis and the 24 recommendations in the ‘Walking the allergy tightrope’ report, which highlighted the critical need for further investment to address this continuing public health challenge.
For full reporting see the media report on the National Allergy Strategy website.
