International project on equitable distribution of health resources and priorities within global health

Researchers in Bergen and Seattle will join forces in a project on the equitable distribution of health resources and priorities within global health. The agreement was signed during this year's Transatlantic Science Week held in Washington, D.C. in October.

Representatives for the University of Bergen and the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington agreed during the course of the week to cooperate on a project under the Disease Control Priorities Network.

Attractive research partners

Last year the Research Council of Norway and the National Institutes of Health in the USA signed a memorandum of understanding to expand their cooperation on global health research and biobanks. Both Norwegian and international research groups have increased their research activity in this area in recent years as part of the effort to meet the global health challenges.

"Norway is very active in the area of global health research. We have high-calibre research groups that make attractive partners for international researchers," says Berit Johne, Senior Adviser at the Research Council, who recently stepped down as Counselor for Science in Washington, D.C. "US research groups are showing a greater interest in cooperation."

Dialogue at the highest level

"Norway and the US enjoy a fruitful dialogue at the political level on closer research cooperation on global health. Norwegian research groups should be incorporated even more closely into international projects in this area," Dr Johne says.

"Both Norway and the US are seeking to expand and refine their cooperation. An agreement is merely a positive start. The challenge lies in finding effective instruments that facilitate the practical aspects of cooperation," explains Dr Johne.

Numerous benefits

The Norwegian participants express great satisfaction with the agreement. "We are very pleased that this project will enable us to cooperate with a highly influential research group comprised of a large number of employees working in the same thematic area," says Ole Frithjof Norheim, a professor of medical ethics and the philosophy of science in the Department of Public Health and Primary Health Care at the University of Bergen.

 "Although our Norwegian group has only a few employees, we can offer a high level of expertise in the ethical aspects of setting priorities within global health."

Pioneering research field

"We are very concerned with the equitable distribution of health resources. Among other things, we want to investigate how the priorities that are set affect poorer groups. Initially researchers will study the decisions about priorities taken in India and Ethiopia."

Dr Norheim explains that the incorporation of ethical considerations into health research is relatively new and that so far only a few groups work with ethics and equitable distribution as a thematic area.

New tools

The objective of the research project is to develop an international tool for improving the processes underlying the prioritisation of health resources in low-income countries.

"Without a mechanism of this type, conflicts between various interest groups quickly arise," explains Dr Norheim.

International, cross-disciplinary initiative

"From the outset our research group in Bergen has focused on bringing together doctors, economists and philosophers into a united, cross-disciplinary group. The Research Council's Outstanding Young Investigators scheme (YFF) has given us a good start. It has given us both the opportunity to establish the research group and to cooperate with dynamic groups in the US and low-income countries," says Dr Norheim.