Fostering Canadian drug research and development for neglected tropical diseases.
Year: 2010
Type: article
Abstract: Neglected diseases are ailments that cause significant morbidity or mortality but for which treatments are unavailable, ineffective or toxic. These conditions, which include HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, and an assemblage of “neglected tropical diseases” (NTDs) comprised of various helminthic, protozoan, viral and bacterial infections, primarily affect impoverished people in low- and middle-income countries.1,2 The fact that most people who are affected by NTDs cannot afford expensive treatments has inhibited investment in research and development (R&D) in this area. However, roughly a billion people worldwide are infected with one or more NTD,3 leading to 530 000 deaths annually and a global burden of disease (GBD) of 57 million disability adjusted life years (DALYs).4 This is a significant GBD when compared with the global burden of 84.5, 46.5 and 34.7 million DALYs attributed to HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, respectively.4 DALYs are thought to systematically underestimate the burden of NTDs.4 The calculation of DALYs does not take into account the long-term nature of NTDs or the subclinical morbidities associated with them.4,5 A number of studies have demonstrated that NTDs are, relative to their global burden, the most neglected of the world’s diseases.4,6 A study on the funding of ND research found that 30 NDs (including NTDs) received only 0.016% of the US$160 billion allocated to health research globally in 2007.6 Of the 1556 new drugs marketed between 1975 and 2004, only 21 were indicated for neglected diseases (including malaria and tuberculosis, but not HIV), and a mere 10 were directed at NTDs.7
Many people have advocated an increase in drug R&D for NTDs, along with other medical, social and economic interventions, since effective treatments are predicted to have a positive impact on both the health status and the economic well-being of affected populations.8,9 Recently, the World Health Organization (WHO) Intergovernmental Working Group on Public Health, Innovation and Intellectual Property has emphasized the need for new R&D incentive mechanisms (e.g., prize funds that reward the development of innovative medical interventions), intellectual property strategies such as patent pools, and an increase in contributions to global R&D from all countries, proportional to their relative wealth.10 In this commentary we analyze how Canada has responded to the NTD R&D crisis within both governmental and academic institutions. On the basis of this analysis, we comment on the potential for Canada to mitigate the suffering of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people.
Source: PubMed Central
Authors: Patricia Gabriel, Rebecca Goulding, Cecily Morgan-Jonker, Shannon Turvey, Jason Nickerson
Language: English
Subfield: Economics and Econometrics
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2154846026