Health Matters: Horizon 2020 must fund research in neglected diseases

Poverty-related and neglected diseases account for 13.7 million deaths and the loss of 377 million healthy life years annually worldwide.  Yet only 10 per cent of worldwide health research expenditure is used to address these diseases, which include HIV & AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis – three of the most deadly infectious diseases worldwide.

Now a study by the independent research group Policy Cures, ‘Saving Lives and Creating Impact: EU Investment in Poverty-Related and Neglected Diseases’ confirms that European funding for global health research and development through the new EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation, Horizon 2020, will have a direct benefit on both developing countries and on Europe.

Funding for R&D in poverty-related and neglected diseases creates jobs, according to the study, which was commissioned by Deutsche Stiftung Weltbevoelkerung, a German foundation that for the past twenty years has worked to implement and support family planning and reproductive health education and services in developing countries.

The study found that 13,000 new jobs were created in this area of disease research between 2002 - 2010 – many of these being exactly the kind of the smart, high-value jobs sought by the EU’s growth strategy, Europe 2020.

Sixty-six cents of every €1 invested by EU governments in poverty-related and neglected diseases R&D is reinvested back into European laboratories, universities and companies.

New treatments

Further strengthening European investment in global health R&D has led to the development of new treatments for diseases including HIV & AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. In the last ten years, 43 new products were registered, including a pneumonia vaccine and new malaria drugs.

Research into these diseases also generates a net benefit to Europe’s economy.  For every €1 invested by the EU and member states, a further €1.05 is attracted from other donors.

In addition to the huge health impact and many secondary benefits in developing countries, EU investment in poverty-related and neglected diseases R&D also yields important domestic benefits. Closer to home, we also feel the benefit as European citizens are protected from these diseases, protecting Europe’s global health security. 

Contributions vary

However, EU investment in this area is still low overall and is not spread equally between the member states. EU funding for R&D in neglected diseases is only 0.0024 per cent of the EU’s combined gross domestic product, and the contributions of individual member states vary greatly.

All EU funding for research and development into poverty-related and neglected diseases will be coordinated through Horizon 2020, including commitments towards the second phase of the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership. Cutting global health funding in Horizon 2020 would be detrimental to the European economy, as well as to developing countries. 

Given this, the next few weeks leading up to the vote in the European Parliament’s Industry, Research and Energy Committee (ITRE) are critical to ensure that global health concerns are adequately taken into account under Horizon 2020.

To highlight the case, the Policy Cures report 'Saving Lives and Creating Impact: EU investment in poverty-related and neglected diseases' was launched yesterday (26 September) at an event in the European Parliament, hosted by MEP Maria Da Graça Carvalho.

Karen Hoehn is Vice Executive Director and Director of International Affairs, Deutsche Stiftung Weltbevoelkerung (German Foundation for World Population)

Policy Cures is an independent group providing research, information and strategic analysis for those involved in developing drugs for diseases that take a particular toll in the developing world, including malaria, TB, HIV/AIDS, pneumonia, sleeping sickness and helminth infections. The aim is to provide governments and funding bodies with information to guide R&D funding decisions.