What would €6bn do for our health?

EU governments and MEPs are hoping to finalise a research programme for the next seven years before the old one runs out on 1 January.

Money under the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) will be devoted to research into everything from climate change to space exploration.

The shaping of FP7 is one of the most important issues of EU policy on health research being debated at the moment.

The €6 billion proposed in FP7 for health research will cover a range of topics, from improving national healthcare systems to preparing for a pandemic.

But the arguments are over more than just money. There are also fierce debates about what constraints to set on medical research. Political attention has focused in particular on the question of whether research into cures for diseases including Alzheimer's and cancer will involve the use of stem cells from human embryos (see right).

These concerns over the ethics of stem-cell science have led to questions about the way health research is handled in a Union of 25 member states.

There are arguments too over the possible extension of the so-called precautionary principle. European environmental policies already have to be based on this principle, which allows that even limited evidence of a threat to the environment is enough to keep products off the market.

A 2000 European Commission communication argued the case for applying the precautionary principle to health policies as well. Six years later, health campaigners say this is still not always done (see page 20).

Scientists and businesses meanwhile say they are struggling to keep up with competition from cutting-edge healthcare research outside the EU. The use of a principle that could block new discoveries on the basis of limited evidence of health scares is not welcomed in all quarters.

There is wider concern about the competitiveness of EU research and the burden of regulation. Biotechnology firms are worried that they are being outstripped by non-EU competitors.

Small biotech companies researching cures for rare diseases say they do not get the support needed to flourish in Europe (see below, right).

The scope of EU health research is widening, though one topic that campaigners say has been neglected is men's health (see page 21). A continuing concern for researchers is smoking and its health effects (see page 20).

These will be topics of enduring interest, as and when the go-ahead for FP7 is eventually given.

EU governments and MEPs are hoping to finalise a research programme for the next seven years before the old one runs out on 1 January.