In mid-March the Basel City parliament voted overwhelmingly to grant a state subsidy of 12.5 million francs to the IOB for 2018 to 2021, with 92 votes in favour and only two against.
Lukas Engelberger, the Director of Public Health, told the parliament that supporting advances in research made by the IOB is the correct decision, as the IOB shares its know-how in close cooperation with the University and the University Hospital. He also presented a declaration of intent in which the canton would grant annually increasing contributions to the IOB over a ten-year period.