Government invests in Infectious Diseases Research Platform

The Government is investing $75 million over seven and a half years to establish a nationally coordinated Infectious Diseases Research Platform. This long-term investment will strengthen New Zealand's healthcare system through world-class science and capability.

The platform will bring together research organisations, health agencies, and stakeholders, including Māori, Pacific, and wider communities. It will focus on building science capability, growing a pipeline of infectious disease science leaders, and maintaining research critical to preventing infectious diseases.

The platform aims to:

• Enhance pandemic preparedness and ensure the science workforce can mobilise quickly in response to future outbreaks.
• Reduce New Zealand's exposure to the harm and cost of pandemics, protecting the economy, workforce, healthcare systems, and communities.
• Build a strategic, agile, and integrated research and response system that adapts to emerging priorities and delivers impactful science.

In addition to pandemic readiness, the platform will support research breakthroughs to reduce the burden of existing diseases such as rheumatic fever, tuberculosis, and meningococcal disease.

The investment will allow for long-term strategic research and better coordination of infectious disease research capability across the platform and with end-users, including collaboration with Australian researchers.

The platform will be hosted by the newly established New Zealand Institute for Public Health and Forensic Science (PHF Science), which has strong relationships with the Ministry of Health, Public Health Agency, and the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. PHF Science also plays a key role in pandemic preparedness and brings deep institutional knowledge from hosting the previous investment, Te Niwha, which concludes in 2026.

This refreshed, collaborative national consortium is designed to deliver science that strengthens New Zealand's resilience to infectious disease threats and supports the health and wellbeing of communities.

Read the Minister's announcement:

Protecting New Zealand from infectious disease(external link)- Beehive.govt.nz

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