A NATIONAL network launched in Melbourne aims to bring relief to millions of people suffering from musculoskeletal conditions such as low neck and back pain, osteoarthritis and gout.
Arthritis and musculoskeletal conditions affect more than six million Australians but experts say these conditions are under-researched compared to other diseases.
The new $2.5 million NHMRC Centre for Research Excellence for the Australia and New Zealand Musculoskeletal Clinical Trials Network will be run jointly by Monash University and the University of Sydney.
The centre is a collaboration of more than 200 clinician researchers from 21 universities, 21 hospitals and 10 research institutes.
The network aims to optimise musculoskeletal health by addressing the lack of high-quality research focused on arthritis and musculoskeletal conditions, despite these conditions affecting 28 per cent of Australians.
Monash University vice-chancellor Margaret Gardner said the network would advance vital research into conditions such as arthritis and back pain.
“Musculoskeletal conditions affect almost one in four Australians, but co-ordinated approaches to ensuring that research focuses on the most important questions – including optimising uptake of evidence into practice – (have) long been lacking,” Professor Gardner said.
“This new network will enable clinicians, researchers and consumers to work together to deliver better treatments and outcomes.”
She said the new collaborative networks will help curb the impact of MSK conditions that affect hundreds of millions of sufferers worldwide.
The launch of the network came as a series published in British medical journal The Lancet revealed a global epidemic of inappropriate tests and treatments for low back pain.
One of its authors is Monash University’s Professor Rachelle Buchbinder, who said that despite the enormous number of people affected by musculoskeletal conditions “there has been little improvement in the way we deal with these conditions – largely through lack of research funding, uptake of research findings into practice, and failing to address the most important research questions”.
She called for a co-ordinated approach to address the “rising burden of musculoskeletal conditions”.
