title: Mapping of available health research and development data: what's there, what's missing, and what role is there for a global observatory?
abstract: The need to align investments in health research and development (R&D) with public health demands is one of the most pressing global public health challenges. We aim to provide a comprehensive description of available data sources, propose a set of indicators for monitoring the global landscape of health R&D, and present a sample of country indicators on research inputs (investments), processes (clinical trials), and outputs (publications), based on data from international databases. Total global investments in health R&D (both public and private sector) in 2009 reached US$240 billion. Of the US$214 billion invested in high-income countries, 60% of health R&D investments came from the business sector, 30% from the public sector, and about 10% from other sources (including private non-profit organisations). Only about 1% of all health R&D investments were allocated to neglected diseases in 2010. Diseases of relevance to high-income countries were investigated in clinical trials seven-to-eight-times more often than were diseases whose burden lies mainly in low-income and middle-income countries. This report confirms that substantial gaps in the global landscape of health R&D remain, especially for and in low-income and middle-income countries. Too few investments are targeted towards the health needs of these countries. Better data are needed to improve priority setting and coordination for health R&D, ultimately to ensure that resources are allocated to diseases and regions where they are needed the most. The establishment of a global observatory on health R&D, which is being discussed at WHO, could address the absence of a comprehensive and sustainable mechanism for regular global monitoring of health R&D.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Management and Health Economics, Institute for Health and Society, University of Oslo, Norway. jrotting@hsph.harvard.edu
authors.forename: John-Arne
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Røttingen
authors.forename: Sadie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Regmi
authors.forename: Mari
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Eide
authors.forename: Alison J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Young
authors.forename: Roderik F
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Viergever
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ardal
authors.forename: Javier
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Guzman
authors.forename: Danny
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Edwards
authors.forename: Stephen A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Matlin
authors.forename: Robert F
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Terry
mesh_terms: D035843:Biomedical Research / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003625:Data Collection; D019992:Databases as Topic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D019049:Developed Countries / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003906:Developing Countries / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014943:Global Health / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D033181:Information Dissemination; D020380:Needs Assessment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011634:Public Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011643:Publishing / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012109:Research Support as Topic / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data