Australian Prime Minister John Howard today announced medical research grants totalling AU$560 million. The grants are the result of the Australian Government's 2008 National Health and Medical Research grants. According to a government media release, the grants will fund research into heart disease, obesity, cancer, child health, depression  and chronic diseases such as diabetes and asthma.
Howard said that the grants were possible because of the good state of the economy. "It's an extraordinary human dividend out of good economic times," he said. "You couldn't do it if you were paying off debt. The fact that we're not paying off debt [means] we've got $8-9 billion a year in saved interest that we can spend on good things like medical research."

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John Howard announces $560 million for medical research