Poland announces new medical research programme

Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and Deputy Prime Minister and Science Minister Jarosław Gowin unveiled the programme at a joint news conference in Warsaw.

“Health is a priority to us, but also an opportunity for growth,” Morawiecki told reporters.

He added that a new research institute would be established to carry out the programme.

The new institute “stands a good chance of becoming a cutting-edge institution that will open new horizons for medicine within the field of biotechnology,” Morawiecki said.

The Polish prime minister also said that 70 percent of medication purchased in Poland is of foreign origin, while in countries such as Germany and France domestically manufactured products account for 90 percent of all purchased medicines.

“We want to reduce our dependence [on foreign medication], and we want pharmaceuticals to become more affordable and increasingly produced by Polish manufacturers,” Morawiecki said.

Meanwhile, Gowin said that “PLN 500,000 [EUR 141,000] has been earmarked for biotechnology research in this year’s budget.”

(aba/gs)

Source: PAP