If we get a $20bn health research fund, what does that mean?

Having stated in my last post that there were no surprises expected in the new Australian Government's budget - they pull a $20bn health research fund rabbit out of the hat. Well I guess that's the nature of surprises, if you knew they were coming, it wouldn't be a surprise.

Other than making me swallow humble pie and retire my crystal ball, what does it mean for medical research an institutions such as Peter MacCallum? One early response I got when I asked the question was "the $20B is very welcome news for the sector and visionary in many ways as Australia plans for a post-resource boom economy. The money will gradually increase over the next 3-4 years and no doubt be very good news for Peter Mac, as Australia's leading cancer research group. However substantial funding is 4 years away (if its gets through the senate) and patients need advances now!"

One article written by Dan Harrison of the Sydney Morning Herald (online http://www.smh.com.au/national/new-20-billion-medical-research-fund-wonky-wedge-or-wonder-cure-20140517-38gss.html#ixzz32QnQpi94) gave some further consideration. While details are still being worked out, key take home messages seem to be:

• The money wouldn't be available immediately - the fund needs to grow up to $20bn and that isn't expected until 2020 and then the distribution made available is the interest on the capital, which would mean something like $500m in 2020 and $1bn in 2022.
• The distribution will be across a number of priority health priority areas (arthritis, asthma, cancer, cardiovascular disease, dementia, diabetes, injury, mental health and obesity).
• It still needs approval and is being tied to the less politically palatable cost co-payments initiatives (such as the $7 fee for GP visits)

So nothing is certain yet, other than the fact that there is research that needs funding right now, and that events such as the ride to conquer cancer will still have a very important place in allowing Peter MacCallum the capacity and discretion to fund their medical research.

Travelling light

It's Mother's day here in Australia and Melbourne airport is surprisingly quiet, evidently not many people travel away on Mother's day. I'm here at the start of the long haul to London.

I'm staying for nearly two weeks on this trip, but travelling light with only one piece of hand luggage. This caused the Cathay Pacific guy at the check in desk to have a pleasant but possibly security triggered conversation with me. When I said I was travelling for family reasons he asked if it was to see my mother (it being mother's day), when I said 'yes' he said I was a good son to surprise my mother. Feeling that I might be getting too much praise, I explained that it wasn't quite a surprise and that she hadn't been too well recently. To which his reply was, "still a good son". Nice touch.

My mother is still at home being looked after by my dad, which is a great achievement by both of them. As we were warned, the steroids used to control the swelling from the tumour growth come with side effects that become increasingly apparent over time. In my mother's case it has significantly weakened her and caused swelling, but she is understandably proud to have regrown her hair. My father has put in a stair lift, a special bed, chair, grab rails around the house and they now have a wheel chair. As a finishing flourish, he's also installed a fish tank, with fish!

My sister will take a few days of her work while I'm over and apparently we aim to visit the site of the London Olympics. Maybe I should take a look at the velodrome... Been doing quite a few kilometres recently, but I don't think I'm quite ready... :)

Here in Australia we are only a couple of days away from our new government's budget. It's expected to be severe and no one is expecting grants for medical research, or even medical care, to increase. This means that funds from events like the ride to conquer cancer are ever more important to institutions such as the Peter Mac.

In my last mail out communication on my journey to the ride to conquer cancer, I mentioned that Sandra had asked the guests of her Great Gatsby themed 50th to donate money to my ride rather than buy presents. The generosity of our guests, and others who have donated separately, has seen me reach over 1/3 of the way to my target - but there is still a way to go.

Every little counts.

Til the next time,

John

Easter Monday Ride to Kinglake

Easter Monday Ride with Grant. Great weather, quiet traffic, at least until the return, and a family sized bowl of chips for a healthy snack on the way back.

The day started well with a spectacular dawn in Camberwell:

And then a great ride through to the Yarra Ranges.

Magic.

Joining the Latte Riders for a spin down the Mornington Peninsula

Invited by a work colleague to join his Latte Riders crew for a ride to Sorento and back. You can read more about the Latte Riders on their facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/LatteRiders and their website here: http://www.latterider.com

Grant, Tim and I joined them for a showery ride down to Dromana (in Grant and my case at least) and return, all for the fun of it, and the achievement of this month's Strava challenge!

Favourite summer training ride shot

My favourite on bike shot riding with Tim and Grant one early morning up to #Sassafras in the #Dandenongs , dawn strikes as Grant rides the 1/20 (road from Basin up to Sassafras)

John's Ride to Conquer Cancer 2014: Rolling...

Hi All, If you are receiving this email in error, and/or don't want to receive any more emails, please accept my apologies and use the unsubscibe link at the bottom of this message. This is my first email of my journey towards the 2014 Ride to Conquer Cancer, a charity ride in October of this year. I signed up for the 2014 ride after a roller-coaster of experiences leading upto and participating in the 2013 ride. Now its April, the clocks have gone back (in Australia), and its time to get serious again. Those of you who were receiving my messages from previous years will know that in order to participate in the ride I need personally to raise over $2,500 in donations to the charity. All money donated goes to fund cancer research at The Peter Mac, Australia's only dedicated cancer hospital. In the previous two years, through the generosity of the people on this list, I have been lucky enough to have exceeded this amount and ridden in each of the previous events. I thank all the previous donors for their generosity and those that have already donated to this year. All donors will get a tax receipt through the system and, if they choose, their name (and any message), on the honour roll on the site. I will also send a personal note of thanks to all donors. As before, I'm using an email address list collected from my email and social network accounts and the charity's own email system. I intend to send about one message a month upto the October ride date and I hope to make each message have at least some interest for readers. Unfortunately it's text only with this system - so I've created a blog that will allow me to provide some more colour and photos. The blog is here: http://rtcc2014.blogspot.com.au/, I'll also use the hashtag #rtcc2014 on LinkedIn, Google+, instagram and facebook when I remember to post stuff... This year my fund raising has got off to a great start. A few weeks ago, my wife, Sandra, had a big birthday party (marquee tents in the garden, fancy dress, loud dancy music, the whole bit) and very generously suggested that guests could donate to my participation in the ride instead of buying her a present. This has given me a fantastic flying start but there is still a long way to go. Those of you who were reading my emails last year will also know that just before the ride last year my participation become a close family matter. On September the 3rd 2013, my mother was diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer and given 3-9 months to live. As I write this message she is still very much with us, living at home with my Father in the UK. Whilst easily tired and increasingly affected by the steroids used to suppress the symptoms, she remains very much the same person, including her courage, love of life, and gentle sense of humour. My Father has picked up domestic skills that have far exceeded everyone's expectations, including his own and now spends time during our frequent skype sessions talking about ways to make broccoli interesting. This, I wasn't expecting. My mother is Danish, and I think all of her relatives (which seems to be about half of what is a small country) has visited her over the last few months, some of them more than once. In October of last year, her immediate family (including my Aussie contingent) gathered to spend a fabulous week in the UK. Sandra and I and our children have very fond fond memories of that time. Since then we have been keeping in touch with Skype and Google Hangout sessions several days a week. In the time since September I've learnt much about my mother and her (and my) family, and I am grateful for this time and the time we still have. Participating in this ride, and receiving personal messages from many people on this list has made me realise that so many of us have a story to tell about how they and those around then have been affected by Cancer. All I can say is I wish you all well and that you make the most of the time with those you love. In terms of cycling, I've been doing a lot of riding since the last Ride to Conquer Cancer. I think I will have clocked up something like 12,000 kms over the last 12 months, more than either of our two cars. I have also ridden up each of the Victorian "7 Peaks" involving numerous 5.30am starts. Much of this has been in the Shade Seeker team gear as I have ridden with one or more other members of The Shade Seekers (the Ride to Conquer Cancer team that I am lucky enough to be in). You can see some of the photos through links on my blog site and The Shade Seekers site itself is here: www.theshadeseekers.net Sandra thinks I'm addicted to cycling, and I'm beginning to worry when I recognise parts of myself in YouTube comedy cartoons like "I am a cyclist", http://youtu.be/jnr19fc7zsA, 7 minutes of painfully accurate comedy (language warning for those sensitive souls on this list). Until the next time. John. Click here to visit my personal page on the charity site. If the text above does not appear as a clickable link, you can visit the web address: http://cfrau.convio.net/site/TR?px=1124207&pg=personal&fr_id=1141&et=oBn0G0KNDaUVujwi_XysOw&s_tafId=24477 Click here to view the team page for The Shade Seekers If the text above does not appear as a clickable link, you can visit the web address: http://cfrau.convio.net/site/TR?team_id=12114&pg=team&fr_id=1141&et=m9tIF90kQYQnV7dsQrhUSA&s_tafId=24477