Report highlights importance of research into diseases in developing countries

Better drugs and vaccines are needed to fight HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis (TB), malaria and other tropical diseases. Pharmaceutical research has typically focussed on developing drugs, vaccines and other interventions for diseases prevalent in developed countries, where people can afford to buy treatments; it has tended to overlook those disorders that predominantly affect developing countries.

This briefing, produced by the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology, outlines the extent of the problem, describes a number of recent initiatives to stimulate research and development (R&D) into diseases of the developing world and examines the UK policy issues associated with funding such research.