GACD welcomes Japan

The Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases welcomes Japan’s Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED) as its newest member.

"  “We are delighted to welcome AMED to the GACD.  The burden of chronic diseases continues to increase and threaten the health as well as the economic development of many nations. We are pleased that Japan will contribute to our collective efforts to support research that will enable policymakers around the world to tackle the global NCD epidemic.”

Dr Alain Beaudet, Chair of the GACD

With Japan becoming a member, the GACD is now made up of twelve public health research funders from around the world.

" “By joining the GACD, Japanese researchers will be given valuable opportunities to collaborate with other international experts and to further advance the area of implementation science.  Japan through AMED has a long tradition of outstanding research and we are hoping that our involvement with the GACD will lead to positive health outcomes in the area of non-communicable diseases.”

Dr Makoto Suematsu, President of AMED

Background

The Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases (GACD) is a collection of the world's largest public health research funding agencies.  We fund joint programmes into lifestyle related or chronic diseases (cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, certain cancers, lung diseases and mental disorders).

The alliance coordinates and supports research activities that address the prevention and treatment of chronic non-communicable diseases, on a global scale. These conditions account for 60 percent of deaths globally.  Our multi-country, multi-disciplinary research focuses in particular on the needs of low- and middle-income countries, where 80% of deaths from chronic diseases occur. We also focus on research with vulnerable populations of more developed countries.

The GACD is the first collaboration of major research funding agencies to specifically address chronic non-communicable diseases. Together, the members of the alliance represent over 80% of public health research funding worldwide. Members of the alliance are:

• Australia’s National Health and Medical Research Council
• Canadian Institutes of Health Research
• Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences
• The U.K.’s Medical Research Council
• The U.S.’s National Institutes of Health
• Indian Council of Medical Research
• South African Medical Research Council
• European Commission's Health Directorate in the Research & Innovation DG
• Mexico's National Institute of Medical Sciences and Nutrition Salvador Zubirán
• Thailand’s Health Systems Research Institute
• Argentina’s Ministry of Science, Technology and Productive Innovation
• The Japanese Agency for Medical Research and Development

For more information

For further information please visit the GACD website: www.gacd.org

Press contact: gacd@ucl.ac.uk