R&D Investment

Many of my compatriots are (understandably) frustrated by the delays in the vaccine rollout in Canada (at least compared to the USA and UK, though our 27.7 per 100 people vaccinated is well above the global average of 11.9 per 100 people). Many factors explain Canada’s lack luster performance, but I think it is worth noting where Canada stands globally in terms of the percentage of our GDP invested in R&D.

Here are some useful comparisons (from the World Bank data in 2018) for % of GDP invested in R&D in general (only part of which relates to healthcare, but it also covers computing, defence, energy, etc.):

World: 2.27% of GDP invested in R&D

COUNTRIES 3+% INVESTMENT INCLUDE:

ISRAEL: 4.95%

SWITZERLAND: 3.37%

SWEDEN: 3.4%

GERMANY: 3.09%

DENMARK: 3.06%

COUNTRIES BETWEEN 2-2.9% INVESTMENT INCLUDE:

USA: 2.84%

FINLAND: 2.77%

FRANCE: 2.20%

CHINA: 2.19%

ICELAND: 2.03%

COUNTRIES BETWEEN 1-1.99% INVESTMENT INCLUDE:

SINGAPORE: 1.94%

SLOVENIA: 1.94%

CZECH REPUBLIC: 1.93%

UK: 1.72%

CANADA: 1.57%

Canada should be aiming higher in terms of investment in R&D, not only because doing so would have made us less vulnerable to this particular infectious disease, but because R&D investment (especially in healthcare) is critical to the long-term prospects of any society flourishing in the 21st century (and beyond). We ask a lot of our governments, so it is important to ensure we actually ask for those things that have important significance on the health and wellbeing of the population.

Science covers this story as it relates to France here, and NatureNews has the scoop on the same story in Africa here.

Cheers,

Colin