Better together: Why international efforts are essential for global health
Recent news that the UK has increased its spending on fighting global neglected diseases places it at the forefront of international efforts to fight ailments such as malaria and tuberculosis.
Figures from the 11th annual G-Finder report show that global funding targeting research and development (R&D) for neglected diseases is now at its highest ever level, the first time since 2009.
The UK was only second to the US in terms of funding, increasing the amount it spends on combatting neglected diseases by $87 million.
And while many accuse big pharma of chasing profits, the biopharma industry was shown to be one of the largest supporters of fighting neglected diseases. Indeed in 2017, biopharma’s funding was the third largest, coming only behind the USA’s National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Gates Foundation.
Highlighting these commitments might seem congratulatory, but as the report shows, there simply isn’t enough being done to fight neglected diseases across the world.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends governments spend 0.01% of their GDP on researching the health needs of developing countries, yet in 2017 not a single nation met this target.
Perhaps more worrying is the fact that philanthropic funding is still reliant on a handful of organisations such as the Gates Foundation and the Wellcome Trust, which accounted for 95% of charitable contributions in 2017.
Still, the increase in funding is certainly welcome but more important might be the international efforts to tackle health concerns in developing countries. It’s these types of efforts which are needed for the prosperity of global health, especially when concerns surrounding anti-microbial resistance (AMR) and the safety of vaccines are on the rise.
AMR might be another area where the UK has previously led the way, but a lack of international cohesion could see the issue get worse before it gets better.
This is why developments such as the Global Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance System (GLASS) are so important. Launched in 2016 to standardise the way countries collect data on AMR, GLASS was recently updated with a technical notice providing guidance on the use of molecular diagnostic in AMR testing. It’s hoped that the notice will help health authorities make informed choices on the use of molecular tests in an attempt to gain a clear global look at AMR.
Without global efforts, health concerns such as AMR and un-vaccinated citizens are bound to get worse. A lack of informed data and standardised tests that can assess where we are as a planet in terms of health will only widen healthcare disparity between counties.