A report published in peer-reviewed journal PLoS Medicine this week reveals warped levels of R&D funding for the diseases of poverty.
Of the $2.5bn that was spent on R&D in 2007, a massive 42% was channelled towards HIV / AIDS, according to the report.
As previously noted in the British Medical Journal, HIV / AIDS causes just 3.7 percent of deaths in low- and middle-income countries, yet consumes 25 percent of international healthcare aid.
Meanwhile 1.8 million people die annually from diarrhoeal illnesses, yet these account for little more than one tenth of the funding spent on HIV / AIDS.
Respiratory illnesses are an even greater cause of mortality than both, accounting for around 4 million deaths per annum.
So why are there such disproportionate levels of spending? The report offers one explanation:
‘…some donors do not make investment decisions based on “scientific or epidemiological considerations”’ it states. Instead donors are influenced by:
• “the presence of advocacy and fundraising groups”
• “by funder perceptions or preferences”
• “by the presence of policy frameworks and funding mechanisms that prioritize specific diseases”
Professor Karol Sikora wrote last summer about the politicisation of disease. Some diseases become ‘romantic’ in the public mind due to high publicity campaigns, often led by celebrities and rock stars. Politicians then direct greater levels of funds towards the these diseases—at the expense of other, less ‘romantic’ causes.
“Funding should be divided according to real need on the ground, not misleading scares nor fashionable causes” he says.
Sadly it seems no one’s listening, and a plethora of single-issue NGOs and self-interested politicians continue to warp investments.
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