New network to relieve burden of musculoskeletal pain
For the first time Australia will have a research centre dedicated to arthritis and musculoskeletal conditions, which affect more than 6 milion Australians.
Back pain alone accounts for more than 40 percent of forced early retirements in Australia and is associated with poor quality of life, lower income and mental health issues. Low back pain is the leading cause of disability globally.
The NHMRC Centre for Research Excellence for the Australia and New Zealand Musculoskeletal (ANZMUSC) Clinical Trials Network, based at the Cabrini Institute at Monash University in Melbourne, will advance vital research and will enable clinicians, researchers and consumers to work together to deliver better treatments and outcomes for people with musculoskeletal conditions.
The ANZMUSC Clinical Trials Network has the capacity to reduce unnecesary research by ensuring only the right musculoskeletal trials are being performed, and methods will be identified and tested to address the long delays in translating musculoskeletal research into clinical practice.
It will work closely with consumers and consumer organisations to shape its research agenda, and with policy makers to ensure that discoveries are rapidly translated into improved care.
The centre itself is a collaboration of over 200 clinician-researchers from 30 disciplines (involving 23 universities, 21 hospitals and 10 research institutes).
Minister for Health Hon Greg Hunt MP, who launched the ANZMUSC Clinical Trials Network, said it’s about improving people’s quality of life.
“At the end of the day, lower back pain is more than just a pain in the back for so many Australians. Six million Australians have impacts on their quality of life, on their ability to work, and of course chronic pain can contribute to mental health impacts,” he said.
The launch of the ANZMUSC Clinical Trials Network coincided with an article on the global burden of low back pain written by a committee of authors led by Professor Rachelle Buchbinder from Monash University and published in The Lancet. The article argues for better multidisciplinary options to treat people as the ‘go-to’ treatment option.