Turnbull’s words of praise for Michelle Haber
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has visited the Sydney Children’s Hospital and Children’s Cancer Institute to announce the Zero Childhood Cancer initiative.
Michelle Haber introduces Malcolm Turnbull to her research
In his address, Prime Minister made special mention of Michelle Haber who runs the research program at the University of New South Wales attached to the hospital dedicated to eliminating cancer in children.
In his address, Malcolm Turnbull said: “This is a place where you find the biggest hearts and the biggest brains. That’s what children’s medicine is about. That’s what all of you do. You bring all of your humanity and all of your love to treating these children here at the Sydney Children’s Hospital and of course at all of the children’s hospitals that are represented here and that were part of this Zero Childhood Cancer Initiative.
Great love, great clinical care, are bringing all of your powerful intellects to bear to ensure that we get better and better at identifying and curing children’s cancer. The goal is to have zero childhood cancer.
Michelle Haber, what a remarkable initiative you are leading here. Sussan and I are so proud on behalf of your Government to be supporting this. I hope many other Australians will do so as well.
This is a great endeavour – Zero Childhood Cancer.
Using the science and the technology of the 21st century, genomics to understand each and every cancer in all of its particularity, in all of its special diversity, to find its fatal flaw, its Achilles heel, that will enable us, you, the scientists and doctors and clinicians, to target those cancers with a treatment that is so specific it takes out the cancer but does not have the very toxic effects that broader spectrum, broader brush chemotherapies have particularly, on all patients, but particularly on patients that are as young as the children that are treated here at the hospital.”
Turnbull said that his government has a massive commitment to medical research and inn addition to the nearly billion dollars invested by the National Health and Medical Research Council, it also runs the Medical Research Future fund committing $400 million over the forward estimates, over the next four years and our goal is by 2020 it will be investing an additional $1 billion a year into medical research.
He added: “This is a vital part of our commitment to a strong, healthy and prosperous society. Of course there is no better way to secure our future than by securing the health of our children.”
