Monitoring Financial Flows for Health Research 2006

Abstract

"The landscape of efforts to improve human health in developing countries has changed dramatically in recent years. There are new actors, new resources and funding channels, and new commitments to meet goals in health and development. Acknowledgement of the importance of health as a human right and as a determinant, outcome and central objective of development has been accompanied by a greater recognition of the vital roles that health research can and must play in achieving this objective. With the evolving landscape of new funds and initiatives for health come some important questions about health research. Where do the resources come from and how much is being spent? What is being funded? What priorities are being set, and by whom? Are the resources adequate for meeting current and predicted future health challenges as demographic and epidemiological patterns change across the world? As attention shifts from creating and delivering products and services that treat specific diseases and conditions towards learning more about the determinants of health and developing ways to promote and sustain it, are resources for health research becoming available to meet the needs? The Global Forum for Health Research regularly tracks the world’s resources for health research and examines the information gathered in relation to the health challenges faced by developing countries. This year’s report surveys the changing scene of global financing for health research and provides new estimates of the resources available and the patterns of ill-health for 2003, as well as projections of these patterns in 2030. It also examines the vital roles that the public sector across all countries must play in supporting health research, creating an enabling environment and strengthening research capacities to meet the present and future challenges."(pg vii)