10/90 Report on Health Research 2000 ************************************ Geneva, 2 May 2000 The Global Forum for Health Research today publishes its 10/90 Report on Health Research 2000. Global spending on health research by both the public and private sectors amounts to about US$56 billion per year (1992 estimate). However, less than 10% of this is devoted to 90% of the world's health problems - a misallocation often referred to as "the 10/90 gap". For example, it is estimated that pneumonia, diarrhoea, tuberculosis and malaria, which together account for more than 20% of the disease burden in the world, receive less than 1% of the total public and private funds devoted to health research. The human and economic costs of such misallocation of resources are enormous. The need for global prioritization in health research was first raised in the 1990 Report of the Commission on Health Research for Development, Health Research: Essential Link to Equity for Development. This led to the creation in 1994 of the Ad Hoc Committee on Health Research Relating to Future Intervention Options, which published its Report under the auspices of the World Health Organization (WHO) in September 1996. Among the 17 recommendations made by the Committee to help correct the 10/90 gap was the creation of the Global Forum for Health Research. This took place in June 1997 (Forum 1) with the participation of about 100 institutions, including government policy-makers, WHO, the World Bank, the Rockefeller Foundation, multilateral and bilateral development institutions, research institutions, NGOs involved in health research, women's organizations and private-sector companies. The Secretariat of the Global Forum for Health Research, located at the headquarters of the WHO, started its operations in January 1998. In June 1998, the Global Forum for Health Research was registered as a Foundation, governed by a Foundation Council of 20 members representing the main partners in the Forum. The 10/90 Report on Health Research 2000 is the second annual report of the Global Forum for Health Research. It describes the progress made by the partners in the Global Forum in the past year to help correct the 10/90 gap by focusing on research activities and initiatives that address health problems of middle and lower income countries and generating funds to support these initiatives. It also describes priorities for the years ahead. Its audience is all those who can help change, in whatever way, the imbalance in the allocation of health research funding: those who fund research, those who set priorities, those who influence decision-making, those who provide information and evidence. Copies of the 10/90 Report on Health Research 2000 are available free of charge from the Global Forum. Contact: [log in to unmask]