Health research funding in Mexico: the need for a long-term agenda

Abstract

Background: The legal framework and funding mechanisms of the national health research system were recently reformed in Mexico. A study of the resource allocation for health research is still missing. We identified the health research areas funded by the National Council on Science and Technology (CONACYT) and examined whether research funding has been aligned to national health problems.

Methods and findings: We collected the information to create a database of research grant projects supported through the three main Sectoral Funds managed by CONACYT between 2003 and 2010. The health-related projects were identified and classified according to their methodological approach and research objective. A correlation analysis was carried out to evaluate the association between disease-specific funding and two indicators of disease burden. From 2003 to 2010, research grant funding increased by 32% at a compound annual growth rate of 3.5%. By research objective, the budget fluctuated annually resulting in modest increments or even decrements during the period under analysis. The basic science category received the largest share of funding (29%) while the less funded category was violence and accidents (1.4%). The number of deaths (ρ = 0.51; P<0.001) and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs; ρ = 0.33; P = 0.004) were weakly correlated with the funding for health research. Considering the two indicators, poisonings and infectious and parasitic diseases were among the most overfunded conditions. In contrast, congenital anomalies, road traffic accidents, cerebrovascular disease, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease were the most underfunded conditions.

Conclusions: Although the health research funding has grown since the creation of CONACYT sectoral funds, the financial effort is still low in comparison to other Latin American countries with similar development. Furthermore, the great diversity of the funded topics compromises the efficacy of the investment. Better mechanisms of research priority-setting are required to adjust the research portfolio to the new health panorama of Mexican population.

Figure 1. National Council on Science and Technology (CONACYT) investment on health research.

The annual evolution of resources assigned to the Mixed Funds (FOMIX), Sectoral Fund for Research on Health and Social Security (FOSISS), and Sectoral Fund for Basic Research (FOSIB) is presented. The cash amounts are in US dollars adjusted for purchasing power parity (US$ PPP).

Figure 2. Evolution of the health research funding by research methodology.

For each Sectoral Fund, the health-related projects were classified according to the methodology employed in biomedical research, clinical research, or public health research. The total amount awarded per methodology from 2003 to 2010 was estimated (A). Note that resources of Sectoral Fund for Basic Research (FOSIB) were mainly allocated to biomedical projects, whereas resources of Sectoral Fund for Research on Health and Social Security (FOSISS) were mostly directed to clinical projects. FOMIX: Mixed Funds.

Figure 3. Project distribution by research objectives and annual amounts funded.

A: The share for each research objective (in percent) within National Council on Science and Technology (CONACYT) funds. B: Budget fluctuations for each thematic objective over the period. Research projects were classified by thematic objective considering nine categories: health determinants (1.social, economic and cultural), health conditions (2. noncommunicable diseases; 3. communicable diseases; 4. nutrition and environment; 5. violence and accidents), and actions or interventions (6. research on health policy, systems and services; 7. technological R&D; 8. basic science; and 9. traditional medicine). FOSIB: Sectoral Fund for Basic Research; FOMIX: Mixed Funds; FOSISS: Sectoral Fund for Research in Health and Social Security.

Figure 4. Relationship between CONACYT funding and disease burden.

The scatter plots show the relationship between National Council on Science and Technology (CONACYT) funding and mortality (A) or disability-adjusted life years DALYs (B). The red line in each panel represents the predicted funding on the basis of the linear regression analysis of all data. Axes are on logarithmic scales.