"Hopes for a global convention aimed at kick starting research and development programs on diseases that particularly affect developing countries have been reignited after a meeting of the World Health Organization's executive board," BMJ reports. "A report [.pdf] commissioned by WHO and published last April recommended a convention that committed all countries to spending at least 0.01 percent of gross domestic product on research and development for diseases that disproportionately affected people in developing countries," the journal writes, noting an agreement resulting from a November meeting on the issue "called on WHO to establish a global health research and development observatory, building on national and regional observatories with a view to 'contributing to the identification of gaps and opportunities for health R&D.'"