How does funding for autism research compare with other conditions?
Levels of funding for autism research compare very badly with other disorders of childhood or with similar prevalence. For example in England and Wales around 6,000 children are diagnosed with autism each year…..yet the total spend on autism research in 2007 was around £3m, some £500 for each child diagnosed. Just over a quarter of these (c.360 p.a.) are for childhood leukaemia.; Yet total research expenditure on autism was no more than £m in 2005 – some £333 for each child diagnosed. The single charity Children with Leukemia spends around £7m p.a. on research, nearly £20,000 per child diagnosed. Cystic fibrosis occurs in 1 in 3,000 live births compared to around 1 in 100 for autism giving a diagnosis rate of 215 p.a. in England and Wales.; In total it affects 7,500 people in the UK compared to over half a million with autism.; Yet the Medical Research Council’s annual spend is about the same for both at around £1.
