Close the 10/90 Gap: Support the Development of Treatments and Diseases that Affect People in Developing Countries

Studies show that ninety percent of the global disease burden affects developing countries while just ten percent of global research and development funds are used to development of treatments and vaccines for those diseases. This has been called 'the 10/90 gap,' and thankfully, there are lots of folks working to close it.

* The Initiative on Public-Private Partnerships for Health operates under the Global Forum for Health Research and supports alliances to fight neglected diseases. They maintain a list of 92 such partnerships.

* The Global Forum on Health Research is working to correct 'the 10/90 gap.' Visit the site to sign up for newsletters and learn more.

* The Medicines for Malaria Venture is a "nonprofit organization created to discover, develop and deliver new affordable antimalarial drugs through effective public-private partnerships."

* The Sustainable Science Institute is "a non-profit organization dedicated to improving public health worldwide, by helping scientists in developing countries gain access to the resources needed to address local problems related to infectious diseases." They offer training and consulting services, low-cost diagnostics developments and policy research.

* One World Health is a nonprofit pharmaceutical company. (What a wonderful concept!) Interested people can donate research or intellectual property, or can volunteer their time, and expertise in bench research, bioethics, epidemiology, manufacturing, etc.

These organizations provide excellent ways for scientists, bioethicists, and others to help ease the global disease burden and eliminate the 10/90 gap.

"Doing your best simply requires you to make a good choice based on what you already know. But doing the best means acquiring new knowledge and new experiences that allow you to solve problems in better ways." - Karama Neal