This statement, published by the Global Forum for Health Research, reports on its eighth annual meeting, held in Mexico City from 16-20 November 2004, which considered how health research could be used to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Key points outlined in the statement include: (1) a call for renewed effort to close the 10/90 gap in health research by focusing on the diseases that affect the world's poor, essential for achieving the MDG poverty target; (2) the need to address more comprehensively the determinants of health, encompassing health policy and systems research, and the cross-cutting issues of poverty and equity; (3) the requirement to give more prominence to sexual and reproductive health and rights as central to the achievement of the MDGs.
Monitoring equity and research policy
Despite substantial sums of money being devoted to health research, most of it does not benefit the health of poor people living in developing countries, a matter of concern to civil society networks, such as the People's Health Movement. Health research should play a more influential part in improving the health of poor people, not only through the distribution of knowledge, but also by answering questions, such as why health and healthcare inequities continue to grow despite greatly increased global wealth, enhanced knowledge, and more effective technologies.
“….The number of think tanks worldwide has expanded rapidly over the last two decades as government becomes more receptive to evidence-based policy solutions and seeks new solutions in rapidly changing political environments. What they all have in common is a wish to capture the political imagination; they aim to use their insight to have political impact. This handbook addresses various factors that need to be considered in this process, and provides a comprehensive selection of tools that can be used when attempting to turn research into policy influence…"
Annual global spending on health research has more than tripled in a period of 10 years rising to just under US$106 billion from US$30 billion. Despite this sharp growth, the "10/90 gap" persists. This study of financial flows for Health Research by the Global Forum for Health Research is presented as a contribution to answering the questions on how the world's health research resources are being used. Important gaps will be exposed and action galvanized to close them - namely, by leveraging global health research in a way that genuinely improves global health, i.e. the health of the many - the 90 per cent - not just the few.
Health systems research has the potential to produce dramatic improvements in health worldwide and to meet some of the major development challenges in the new millennium. Effective research could prevent half of the world's deaths with simple and cost-effective interventions, the World Health Organization (WHO) says in a new World Report on global health research. The WHO World Report on Knowledge for Better Health: Strengthening Health Systems highlights aspects of health research that, if managed more effectively, could produce even more benefits for public health in future. It sets out the strategies that are needed to reduce global disparities in health by strengthening health systems.
The Report focuses on bridging of the "know do" gap, the gulf between what we know and what we do in practice, between scientific potential and health realization. The bridging of this gap is central to achieving the health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s) by 2015. The gap exists for each of the MDG’s and represents a fundamental and pragmatic knowledge translation challenge that must be addressed to strengthen health systems performance towards achieving the MDG’s. The Report will expound the message that we must turn scientific knowledge into actions, which improves people’s health, and that health improvement through knowledge applications is a critical factor in human development and alleviation of ill-health and poverty worldwide.
Complex global public health challenges such as the rapidly widening health inequalities, and unprecedented emergencies such as the pandemic of human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) demand a reappraisal of existing priorities in health policies, expenditure and research. Research can assist in mounting an effective response, but will require increased emphasis on health determinants at both the national and global levels, as well as health systems research and broad-based and effective public health initiatives. Civil society organizations (CSOs) are already at the forefront of such research.
This article from the Bulletin of the World Health Organization highlights health inequities both between and within countries, and how this is reflected in research, focusing on poverty and gender. The authors argue that there has been little research into the social causes of ill-health among groups, or factors affecting health inequity that are beyond the control of the individual. They highlight the publication bias in medical journals, where research into diseases that most affect the poorest people is often less likely to be published.
Health systems constraints are impeding the implementation of major global initiatives for health and the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Research could contribute to overcoming these barriers. An independent task force has been convened by WHO to suggest areas where international collaborative research could help to generate the knowledge necessary to improve health systems. Suggested topics encompass financial and human resources, organisation and delivery of health services, governance, stewardship, knowledge management, and global influences. This article from The Lancet medical journal is part of a wide-ranging consultation and comment is invited. (Registration is required to access this article.)
This new collection turns a critical anthropological eye on the nature of health policy internationally. The authors reveal that in light of prevailing social inequalities, health policies may intend to protect public health, but in fact they often represent significant structural threats to the health and well being of the poor, ethnic minorities, women, and other subordinate groups. The volume focuses on the "anthropology of policy," which is concerned with the process of decision-making, the influences on decision-makers, and the impact of policy on human lives. This collaboration will be a critical resource for researchers and practitioners in medical anthropology, applied anthropology, medical sociology, minority issues, public policy, and health care issues.