Survey of developing country diseases finds Australia is a major contributor
Funding for neglected diseases increases to US$2.5 billion, but big killer diseases miss out
''The G-FINDER survey is a call to action to donors worldwide to support greater R&D for infectious diseases'' - Regina Rabinovich, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Download the full report:
Neglected_disease_RD_how_much_are_we_really_spending
A landmark study has shown that the Australian government is punching above its weight in the race to create new products for diseases of developing countries. Funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the first global survey of R&D for neglected diseases products showed the Australian government ranked 9th among public funders globally, providing US$18.2million to developing breakthrough new products aimed at neglected diseases that now kill millions of people in developing countries.
The survey conducted by researchers at the Australian-based The George Institute for International Health, affiliated with the University of Sydney, found that investment into neglected disease product R&D was US 2.5$ billion in 2007 - much more than they expected.
Study leader, Dr Mary Moran of The George Institute for International Health said: "We suspected that funding for neglected diseases was increasing, but until now it’s been guesswork. We were surprised to see that US$ 2.5 billion was spent on making new products for neglected diseases in 2007. Australia also came out with flying colours as one of the top ten government funders globally, well ahead of most other OECD countries."
An online video of Dr Mary Moran discussing the results can be found here: Video: Mary Moran speaks about the first ever global survey of investment into R&D for neglected diseases - G-FINDER
The key finding from the report, which was released in London today and published today in the open access journal PLoS Medicine, shows funding is highly concentrated. Almost 80% of global funding went towards just three diseases—HIV/AIDS, TB, and malaria. Many significant diseases responsible for killing millions of people in developing countries - including pneumonia and diarrhoeal diseases - remain underfunded and collectively received less than 6% of total funding. According to Dr Moran, many other neglected diseases are significantly underfunded and need urgent attention.
Dr Moran said: "The good news is that neglected diseases are on the global agenda that the strong advocacy work of AIDS, TB and malaria activists have shown results. The bad news is that some of the biggest or cruelest killers like pneumonia and Buruli ulcer have few advocates, no global fund and get less than 5% of funding."
For many neglected diseases, funding was not enough to create even one new product. Some major diseases and disease categories each received less than 5% of global funding. Diarrhoeal illnesses surveyed collectively received 4.5% of global funding (US$ 113.8million); and bacterial pneumonia and meningitis received only 1.3% (US$ 32.5million). Five diseases - leprosy, Buruli ulcer, trachoma, rheumatic fever, and typhoid and paratyphoid fever - each received less than US$ 10 million or 0.4% of total global investment.
"Building on recent successes in global health will require new tools to diagnose, treat, and prevent neglected tropical diseases," said Regina Rabinovich, Director, Infectious Diseases Development at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. "The G-FINDER survey is a call to action to donors worldwide to support greater R&D for infectious diseases."
Australia was a key player, particularly in malaria research and development (US$ 7.7 million). Australia’s National Health and Medical Research Council was also one of only two institutes globally that reported any funding to make new vaccines or treatments for rheumatic fever. Investment into innovative products, such as general diagnostic platforms is another key area of focus down under, with the Queensland government one of only six organisations funding this area.
The report also revealed a startling concentration of funders, showing two key organisations provided 60% of funding and some wealthy OECD governments providing little or no funding at all.
Dr Moran said: "The level of concentration among funders was surprising, with two organisations providing 60% of total global funding. In an uncertain economic climate, it’s worrying to see all our eggs in one basket like this - particularly when that basket represents the lives of hundreds of million of people."
The survey found a great variance in donor investment levels and choices. Public and philanthropic donors collectively invested US$ 2.3 billion (about 90%) of total funding in 2007. The US government represented nearly three quarters of global public spending. Disappointingly, some of the world’s wealthiest governments were missing from the list of top 10, top 20 or even top 30 funders. Remarkably, the pharmaceutical industry contributed just over 9 % of global funding - or nearly a quarter of a billion dollars (US$ 231.8 million), with some companies providing more funding than many OECD governments.
The largest organisational donors were the US National Institutes of Health (42% of total funding) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (18% of total funding). Twelve organisations alone contributed over 80% of this global total. About a quarter of donor funding was routed to public-private product development partnerships (PDPs), such as the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative and the Medicines for Malaria Venture.
Dr Moran said: "In these times of economic crisis , it's worrying to see all our eggs in one basket like this - with two organisations providing 60% of global funding - particularly when that basket represents the lives of hundreds of millions of people."
The G-FINDER report concludes that: "A broadening of funding efforts so that all who are able to contribute do so, and all diseases receive the attention they deserve, would lead to a dramatic positive impact on the health of developing country patients afflicted with these diseases."
G-FINDER researchers surveyed 150 funders and included 30 neglected diseases and 127 neglected disease-product areas. The survey included all pharmaceutical tools of significance to developing countries, and to gather funding data as consistently and comprehensively as possible to help funders better understand where the gaps lie and how their investments fit into the global picture. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation provided the funding for the survey over a five-year period. The second-year of the five-year survey will continue to track funding and review trends from now on.
For further information, please contact:
Emma Orpilla +61410411983; eorpilla@george.org.au
The G-FINDER full report can be downloaded here: www.thegeorgeinstitute.org/prpppubs
The Public Library of Science (PloS) article can be found here: http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371/journal.pmed.1000030
A global media release can be found here: Funding for neglected diseases increases to US$ 2.5 billion, but big killer diseases miss out
A SciVee video about the PLoS article is also available here:
http://www.scivee.tv/node/9649
The George Institute for International Health is headquartered in Sydney, Australia, with operations in the UK, India and China. It has launched research, policy and training initiatives in over 40 countries, with the collaboration of more than 400 hospitals and universities. Ground -breaking research has been conducted into chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and kidney disease as well as significant investigations in the areas of critical care, trauma, injury and neurological conditions. With a focus on developing countries, the Institute has led global clinical trials, including the largest ever conducted into Type 2 diabetes treatment. In 2006, a Health Policy Unit was established with a focus on the development and delivery of new medicines and vaccines in neglected diseases such as malaria and TB. The George Institute was established in 1999 with the support of the University of Sydney’s Faculty of Medicine.