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. 2013 Oct 10:6:22450.
doi: 10.3402/gha.v6i0.22450.

The mismatch between the health research and development (R&D) that is needed and the R&D that is undertaken: an overview of the problem, the causes, and solutions

Roderik F Viergever  1
Affiliations

The mismatch between the health research and development (R&D) that is needed and the R&D that is undertaken: an overview of the problem, the causes, and solutions

Roderik F Viergever. Glob Health Action. .

Abstract

One of the most pressing global health problems is that there is a mismatch between the health research and development (R&D) that is needed and that which is undertaken. The dependence of health R&D on market incentives in the for-profit private sector and the lack of coordination by public and philanthropic funders on global R&D priorities have resulted in a global health R&D landscape that neglects certain products and populations and is characterised, more generally, by a distribution that is not 'needs-driven'. This article provides an overview of the mismatch, its causes, and solutions.

Keywords: R&D; agenda; pharmaceutical industry; priorities; research funding.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
The figure from the report of the Commission on Health Research for Development that formed the basis for the term ‘10/90-gap’ (reprinted by permission of Oxford University Press, USA) (4).
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Health R&D need is determined by: (A) existing health problems, (B) the need for new knowledge and products, and (C) the health R&D that is already being undertaken.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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