Funding of global health research

As I catch up on my reading of CMAJ while in La Paz, Bolivia, where I am a volunteer for the Canadian Society for International Health, it seems important to endorse comments made by Victor Neufeld and colleagues regarding funding by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.1 They reminded us of the 1990 recommendation of the Commission on Health Research for Development that “at least 5% of international aid for the health sector should be earmarked for research and strengthening of research capacity” in countries receiving aid from industrialized countries. Earmarking aid in this way is not only consistent with Canadian values, it is also in our self- interest to do so.

Multidrug resistance is a good example of a problem that does not recognize borders. But self-interest can be economic as well. Canada has spent and continues to spend millions of dollars to decrease mortality in children owing to diarrhea, yet recently it has been revealed that the overall incidence of diarrhea in countries receiving aid does not appear to have diminished.2 Although there may be many reasons why the root of this health problem is not being affected, it is likely that underfunding of researchers in developing countries is a major factor. Experts in countries where childhood mortality owing to diarrhea is widespread are much more likely to design studies that will provide the necessary insights in this area than any of us in the First World, but they will probably need financial and other forms of collaboration.

Does it not make more sense to fund research that will lead to prevention than to pay to manage an ongoing problem?