The Commission on Health Research for Development was an independent international initiative with the aim of improving health and development in

developing countries A developing country is a sovereign state with a less-developed Secondary sector of the economy, industrial base and a lower Human Development Index (HDI) relative to developed countries. However, this definition is not universally agreed upon. ...

. It was constituted in 1987 with 12 members and produced a report titled ''Health Research: Essential Link to Equity in Development'' published in 1990. The Commission began with the premise that

research Research is creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge. It involves the collection, organization, and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness to ...

has the potential to contribute health and development, but the way it is financed, conducted and steered is not adequately addressing the needs of the most vulnerable populations and countries. The report proposed improvements in the way health research was being conducted to ensure maximum impact on health for all. The Commission was one of the first to recognise the global disparity in research funding and outputs which were predominantly focused on health problems of the affluent populations and countries. These efforts led to increasing focus on the 10/90 gap in health research priority setting in

global health Global health is the health of populations in a worldwide context; it has been defined as "the area of study, research, and practice that places a priority on improving health and achieving equity in health for all people worldwide". Problems th ...

. The report also facilitated the setting of the ''Ad Hoc Committee on Health Research Relating to Future Intervention Options'' by the

WHO The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and has 6 regional offices and 15 ...

in 1996. Among the 17 recommendations made by the Committee to help correct the 10/90 gap was the creation of the

Global Forum for Health Research The Global Forum for Health Research is an international foundation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, established in 1997 to increase the amount of research into global health issues. It coined the phrase 10/90 gap to identify the observation ...

. The Commission reviewed available information on health research and development, commissioned special papers, and held open consultation meetings in Germany, Zimbabwe, the United States, Mexico, India, Japan, France and Sweden. The participants in the consultations included health researchers, social activists, administrators, national and global policymakers, and representatives of international organisations including the

UNICEF UNICEF ( ), originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development a ...

and the

United Nations Development Programme The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human development. The UNDP emphasizes on developing local capacity towar ...

(UNDP). The Commission produced 25 country reports, 10 Commission reports, 16 staff papers and 33 contributed papers. The Commission had 12 members: John R Evans (Canada) chair, Gelia T. Castillo (Philippines) deputy-chair,

Fazle Hasan Abed Sir Fazle Hasan Abed (; 27 April 1936 – 20 December 2019) was the founder of BRAC, one of the world's largest non-governmental organizations. Early life Abed was born on 27 April 1936 in the village of Baniachong, located in what is pres ...

(Bangladesh), Sune D. Bergstrom (Sweden), Doris Howes Calloway (United States), Essmat S. Ezzat (Egypt), Demissie Habte (Ethiopia), Walter J. Kamba (Zimbabwe), Adetokunbo O. Lucas (Nigeria), Adolfo Martinez-Palomo (Mexico), Saburo Okita (Japan), V. Ramalingaswami (India). The Commission members' expertise included

biomedical Biomedicine (also referred to as Western medicine, mainstream medicine or conventional medicine)

and

social sciences Social science (often rendered in the plural as the social sciences) is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of society, societies and the Social relation, relationships among members within those societies. The term was former ...

, and included members of national governments, university academia and professionals in business,

public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the de ...

and law. Their work was funded by the German Development Agency,

Edna McConnell Clark Foundation The Edna McConnell Clark Foundation (also McConnell Clark Foundation, Clark Foundation, or EMCF) is a New York-based institution that currently focuses on providing opportunities for low-income youth (ages 9–24) in the United States. The Founda ...

, Candadian government's

International Development Research Centre The International Development Research Centre (IDRC; , ''CRDI'') is a Canadian federal Crown corporation. As part of Canada's foreign affairs and development efforts, IDRC champions and funds research and innovation within and alongside developi ...

with additional inputs from ''Academia de la Investigacion Cientifica'' (Mexico),

Carnegie Corporation of New York The Carnegie Corporation of New York is a philanthropic fund established by Andrew Carnegie in 1911 to support education programs across the United States, and later the world. Since its founding, the Carnegie Corporation has endowed or othe ...

(USA),

Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a $25,000 (about $550,000 in 2023) gift from Edsel Ford. ...

(USA), Foundation for Total Health Promotion (Japan),

Nobel Assembly The Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute is a body at Karolinska Institute that awards the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. It is headquartered in the Nobel Forum on the grounds of the Karolinska Institute campus. Originally the Nobel ...

(Sweden), Oak Foundation (UK),

Overseas Development Administration The Department for International Development (DFID) was a ministerial department of the government of the United Kingdom, from 1997 to 2020. It was responsible for administering foreign aid internationally. The DFID was founded by the UK gov ...

Pew Charitable Trusts The Pew Charitable Trusts is an independent non-profit, non-governmental organization (NGO), founded in 1948. Pew's stated mission is to serve the public interest by "improving public policy, informing the public, and invigorating civic life". ...

(USA),

Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The foundation was created by Standard Oil magnate John D. Rockefeller (" ...

(USA), the

Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (, ) is a government agency of the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs. Sida is responsible for organization of the bulk of Sweden's official development assistance to developing coun ...

(Sweden), the

Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) is an office-level agency in the federal administration of Switzerland, and a part of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs. Together with other federal offices, SDC is responsible for ...

(Switzerland), the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

and the

United Nations Development Program The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries Poverty reduction, eliminate poverty and achieve Sustainable development, sustainable economic growth and Human development (economics), hu ...

(UNDP). The Commission's work was coordinated by a secretariat that was coordinated across

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

, the

London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) is a public research university in Bloomsbury, central London, and a member institution of the University of London that specialises in public health and tropical medicine. The institu ...

and

Tokyo University The University of Tokyo (, abbreviated as in Japanese and UTokyo in English) is a public research university in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1877 as the nation's first modern university by the merger of several pre-westernisation era ins ...

. However, the commission was criticised for its technocentric view and for its scarce integration of health research experiences in

References

{{Reflist Health research