Research into medical treatments are essential to improve health and fight disease. Who do you think should fund this research: individuals, private companies or governments?

It is indisputably important for researchers to develop new medical treatments in the battle against poor health and disease. In my opinion,

this

research should be funded primarily by governments and well-regulated private companies. Governments are able to concentrate solely on public interests. They are indebted to taxpayers and have a responsibility to direct that money back into various services benefiting the nation at large. A good example of the important role governments play in medical services and treatments, is the theory originated by Louis Pasteur, while working for the publicly funded University of Lille in France. It is unlikely he would have had the time and resources to conduct his experiments on his own and questionable if a private company would have recognized the commercial value of his work. Government funding functions much the same way today to fund medical projects without a clear path to profits but enormous importance for public health.

However

, governments are notoriously slow-moving, under-funded and less innovative than private corporations. Companies are motivated to generate a profit, which pushes them to compete, innovate, and pay for the best minds in the field. Evidence for

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is numerous and includes advances in surgical procedures, stem cell therapy, nutrition, pharmaceuticals, cancer research, and emergency medicine. Government funded projects and hospitals have a tendency to become complacent while private companies must innovate to excel. The risk, naturally, is that these companies will charge exorbitant costs and reserve the best medicine for select, wealthy clientele. Government regulation is

therefore

needed to keep these corporations in check. In conclusion, the government plays a key role in medical research, both as a creative body and a regulator. Private companies should not be vilified for their exploitation of health problems, but they should be kept within clear limits.