Centre to help tackle respiratory illnesses

A FUNDING package of £2.5m has been announced to develop new ways to prevent and treat respiratory disease.

The money will be used to create a Respiratory Innovation Centre, bringing together health professionals, academic and business people to more quickly develop, test and implement innovative methods to tackle respiratory illness.

The funding is for three years after which time it is expected the venture will become self-financing by generating profits and drawing in funding from other sources.

Three sites within the Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University and Hywel Dda University Health Board areas are being considered to house the centre and a decision on that will be announced shortly.

Health Secretary Vaughan Gething, who made the announcement, said: “This new centre will identify promising new ideas to prevent, diagnose and treat respiratory disease and help develop them into products and services that can be used by the health service.”

Economy Secretary Ken Skates added: “This investment will help bring together the academic and business world to create new products and services to help tackle respiratory disease.

“In the long-term this will help create highly skilled jobs and grow an industry that is already worth around £2bn to the Welsh economy.”