A new drug treatment to help stroke victims get better faster and back to work will be trialled in Australia.
Health Minister Greg Hunt says the National Stroke Foundation will get $1 million over three years for the Return to Life, Return to Work research package.
"The project will enable more Australians of working age who have had a stroke to access new innovative and cutting edge treatment options to aid their recovery," Mr Hunt says.
On Saturday he will announce a clinical trial of Perispinal Etanercept in Australian stroke patients.
The treatment has been used in the United States to treat chronic stroke and brain injury in selected patients. This is the first clinical trial of its type in Australia.
It is predicted to reduce inflammation in the brain and therefore reduce a stroke's impact.
"Stroke kills more women than breast cancer and more men than prostate cancer and is a leading cause of disability," Mr Hunt said.
"More than 56,000 Australians have strokes every year."
This funding builds on the $1.5 million already announced to give health professionals the latest clinical guidelines and real-time research findings to give stroke patients the best chance for survival.
