Jarryd Roughead backs push to get more sick Australians on next-generation treatments

PATIENTS will be persuaded to try medical trials to access next-generation treatments — similar to that which saved Jarryd Roughead — while bolstering Australia’s biotechnology industry.

EXCLUSIVE: PATIENTS will be persuaded to try medical trials to access next-generation treatments while bolstering Australia’s biotechnology industry.

A new push to open clinical trials of the latest emerging treatments — including lifesaving drugs such as that which saved Hawthorn captain Jarry Roughead’s life — is being launched by the Federal Government.

Hawthorn captain Jarryd Roughead and Australian of the Year Ian Frazer will lead the Helping our Health awareness campaign as part of a $248 million boost for clinical trial activity.

Having overcome melanoma with the groundbreaking immunotherapy treatment Opdivo during a 2016 clinical trial, Roughead said he was proud to be advocating for such an important cause.

“Without clinical trials, the treatment I received for melanoma would not have been possible,” Roughead said.

More than 1000 clinical trials are currently underway in Australia which Health Minister Greg Hunt said offer the hope of better diagnosis, treatment and ultimately cures.

“Clinical trials are about saving lives and protecting lives,” he said.

“We are investing significantly to open up access to new medicines that help Australian patients.”

The Helping our Health campaign will feature advertising throughout the media as well as in clinical settings to encourage people to sign up for a clinical trial.

Professor Ian Frazer said trials offered the means to move medical research out of the lab and into practice.