LMICs devote less than 1% of their health investment in mental health.
Addressing the pressing need of improving research capacity is a priority.

The Global Forum for Health Research believes that responsive and high quality health systems are those that use research to inform decision-makers.

Dr Téa Collins, from the Global Forum, spoke at Global Health Information Forum and Prince Mahidol Award Conference (PMAC) in Bangkok, Thailand about the importance of health systems research in improving health outcomes.

Marta Feletto, Senior Scientist with the Global Forum, undertook a study to ascertain the extent of financed research carried out on communicable diseases (CDs) and noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) in 2008, at the request of the WHO Expert Working Group on R&D Financing.

The First Latin American Conference on Research and Innovation for Health (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 15-18 April 2008) - co-organized by the Global Forum - provided key insights into national research and innovation systems for health in that region.

Young Voices Winners 2009

This has been another very productive year for the Global Forum for Health Research. Working under its Strategy 2008-14, the Global Forum has expanded the scope of its work, its visibility and its impact to promote more research to improve the health of the poorest and most disadvantaged populations.

The Global Forum welcomes the growing momentum regarding climate change but much more is still needed. Research for health and health equity is rarely included in climate change agendas.

All the team at the Global Forum would like to thank you for your continued interest. We wish you a great holiday season and send you our best wishes for 2010!

Prominent South African researcher to head Global Forum for Health Research

Geneva, 23 October 2009 - The Foundation Council of the Global Forum for Health Research today announced the appointment of Anthony Mbewu BA MBBS FRCP MD FMASSAf as its new Executive Director as of January 2010.

In recognition of the importance of priority setting in health, the Global Forum for Health Research published in 2004 a tool called the Combined Approach Matrix (CAM). The rationale of the CAM is to bring together a large range of factors, along different dimensions, into a single analytical tool.

Within 20 years more people will be affected by depression than any other health problem, the World Health Organization predicts.

Erik Landriault from the Global Forum for Health Research, recently discussed FWB’s engagement for Forum 2009 with Tim Hurson, President of thinkx intellectual capital and FWB director.

The Sexual Violence Research Initiative (SVRI) recently hosted its first ever conference in Johannesburg, South Africa, entitled “SVRI Forum 2009: Coordinated evidence-based responses to end sexual violence”. The forum brought together over 200 participants from over 28 countries. Sylvie Olifson-Houriet, member of the SVRI Coordinating Group and Global Forum representative, was involved in several ways.

On Thursday 19 November one session in each of the slots for parallel sessions (morning and afternoon) will be devoted to lightning talks. Need illumination? Read on …

The aim is to engage participants and provide a space for learning and knowledge creation. A lightning talk is a brief, maximum five-minute presentation that allows participants to become acquainted with an individual’s views and project.

Absolutely no Power Point presentations are allowed!

Innovating for the health of all is composed of different types of sessions and activities. Global experts who will frame the major issues and engage the audience in discussion include:

Innovating for the health of all was the theme of the 2009 essay competition Young Voices in Research for Health jointly organized by the Geneva-based Global Forum for Health Research and The Lancet.

One of the constituencies with which the Global Forum for Health Research seeks to engage, as having a huge influence on research for health, is the media.

The Global Forum for Health Research was able to keep research for health on the agenda of the World Health Assembly (WHA).

At the 2002 Barcelona European Council, Heads of State and Government agreed that R&D investment in the European Union (EU) must be increased with the aim of approaching 3% of GDP by 2010, up from 1.9% in 2000. According to the latest available data, included in the forthcoming Monitoring Financial Flows report of the Global Forum for Health Research, EU countries were investing US$ 269.6 bn in R&D (1.9% of GDP). This is US$ 166.2 bn short of the target.

The Global Forum for Health Research is pleased to announce that you can now consult issues of our Newsletter online.

Meeting in Geneva this month for the high-level segment annual ministerial review, delegates to the UN Economic and Social Council called for countries to keep their promises on health-related commitments, including the fulfilment of all official development assistance-related commitments.

More than 30 articles have now been commissioned for this year’s Global Forum Update on Research for Health. The update is a major and prestigious publication of the Global Forum for Health Research, which provides insights into the newest thinking on gaps, priorities and case studies in health research for development.

The Global Forum for Health Research and the Lancet announce the list of essays selected for publication in the anthology Young Voices in Research for Health 2009 that will appear in November.

The Global Forum for Health Research attended a recent invitation-only conference in Geneva on the human impact of climate change. The conference considered a blueprint for action that would help shape public policy while also addressing unmet health needs and reducing health inequities.

Forum 2009 is composed of different types of sessions and activities. The multiplicity of types of “meeting opportunities” is deliberate and reflects the very nature of the Global Forum: catalytic, flexible, inclusive, bringing together many partners to contribute to all aspects of the discussion, a network of networks.

In a recent meeting with WHO Director-General Margaret Chan, Bill Gates identified innovation as one of the keys to uplifting the lives of the poor and improving their health.

Congratulations on your 70th birthday!

Over 400 ideas for sessions, presentations and activities during Forum 2009 were contributed, following the Global Forum's call.

Geneva, 21 May 2009

An important symbolic step towards Forum 2009 – Innovating for the health of all – was taken during the World Health Assembly held at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

30 April 2009

Téa Collins, Health Systems Specialist at the Global Forum for Health Research, was interviewed by a journalist from the Medical Confederation of Argentina.

Looking towards Forum 2009 in Cuba, with its theme of Innovating for the health of all, two national seminars took place in April in Montevideo and Buenos Aires.

Policies for innovation...

Full publication

If only we knew...

Full publication

The deadline for essay competition was 13 May.

Forum 2009: Innovating for the health of all to take place in Havana, Cuba from 16 to 20 November. Register here!

Bienvenue | Bienvenido | Benvenuto | Willkommen | 名 欢迎;欢迎辞 | Bemvindo| Gruezi

"Today, we have no architecture for global research for health," say representatives of the Bamako 2008 Steering Committee.

The Global Forum will hold a symposium on ‘Research priorities’.

Global Forum to host a global consultation on research for improved policy.

Preparatory work for the second session of the WHO Intergovernmental Working Group (IGWG) on Public Health, Innovation and Intellectual Property draws specific attention to the work of the Global Forum in the areas of priority setting and funding for health research.

Initiative for a European Council on Global Health launched. Meeting in Geneva, over 30 participants from 25 institutions around Europe agreed that Europe should exercise more leadership in global health and mobilize the diversity of European actors to contribute to policy, research and action for global health goals. More

Global Ministerial Forum on Research for Health attracted record participation and culminated in a Call to Action and Communiqué.

The Council on Health Research for Development (COHRED)and the Global Forum for Health Research have taken a further step in building their partnership, with the agreement of the management of both organizations to further integrate their activities and programmes of work.

The new arrangement will provide actors in research for health at the global, regional and country levels with common contact points and a set of linked programmes aimed at improving health and health equity.

The partnership leverages the talents of both organizations to support countries in improving health research systems and encourage learning between countries.

• Full press release (pdf)
• COHRED website (pdf)

“Why have policy-makers so often ignored the best evidence for improving the health of their people? And why have researchers failed to get their messages through to the politicians?” asks Robert Walgate, who will moderate HR4D-net, a brand new platform for debate among those concerned with health research for development, launched today by INASP and the Global Forum for Health Research.

One answer may be the lack of good, clear two-way communications channels, but when HR4D-net opens for business on Monday (22 May 2006) the story could change.

HR4D-net will begin with a worldwide discussion on next week’s potentially heated debate on R&D in Geneva. Virtually every nation’s health minister will be at the annual World Health Assembly of the World Health Organization in Geneva.

• Full press release (pdf)
• Sign up for HR4D

The Global Forum announces the publication of the first bilingual edition of one of its publications. The Combined Approach Matrix text was translated into Portuguese and printed by the Brazilian Ministry of Health.

• Full text (pdf)

The Child Health and Nutrition Research Initiative (CHNRI) was registered on 8 June 2006 as a Swiss Foundation.

Its founding members are Professor Robert E Black (USA), Dr Claudio Lanata (Peru) and Prof Marcel Tanner (Switzerland). CHNRI initiated activities in 2001 with the support of the Global Forum for Health Research, the World Health Organization and the World Bank.

• CHNRI website

The meeting highlighted that though there have been resources gathered for research and development since the first Stop TB Global Plan, compared with other global health issues, tuberculosis has suffered from a lack of investment in research. As a movement it has not harnessed the power of research by mobilizing the necessary resources and facilitating synergistic activities.

The discussion revealed that there is a global trend in R&D activities towards increasingly interdisciplinary, interagency, international and interactive networks, which provides an opportunity for the TB partnership to play a critical role in fostering a vibrant research community and mobilizing the resources it needs.

It was pointed out that the Stop TB Partnership can learn from the history of HIV R&D, in particular the role activism has played in increasing funding and support for the movement. Whether TB should embrace or reject controversy, how to enhance global coordination and industry involvement were among the issues raised during the meeting.

• Full text (pdf)
• Stop TB Partnership website

Several friends of the Global Forum were recently recognized for their work and service in the British New Year Honours list:

• Richard Feachem, Anne Mills, Carol Priestley.
• Adnan Hyder receives IRTE & Prince Michael International Road Safety Award 2006.
• Abdul Ghaffar receives Best Publication Award 2005.

The Initiative for Cardiovascular Health Research (IC Health) announces a Call for Proposals for research related to reducing cardiovascular risk in diabetes.

• Call for proposals (pdf)

Deadline: 31 January 2006