Investments in tuberculosis research - what are the gaps?

© 2016 The Author(s). Through decades of research, numerous studies have generated robust evidence about effective interventions for tuberculosis control. Yet, the global annual decline in incidence of approximately 1% is evidence that current approaches and investment strategies are not sufficient....

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Main Authors: Mishal S. Khan, Helen Fletcher, Richard Coker
Other Authors: London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
Format: Letter
Published: 2018
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Online Access:https://repository.li.mahidol.ac.th/handle/123456789/41201
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spelling th-mahidol.412012019-03-14T15:02:08Z Investments in tuberculosis research - what are the gaps? Mishal S. Khan Helen Fletcher Richard Coker London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine National University of Singapore Mahidol University Medicine © 2016 The Author(s). Through decades of research, numerous studies have generated robust evidence about effective interventions for tuberculosis control. Yet, the global annual decline in incidence of approximately 1% is evidence that current approaches and investment strategies are not sufficient. In this article, we assess recent tuberculosis research funding and discuss two critical gaps in funding and in scientific evidence from topics that have been left off the research priority agenda. We first examine research and development funding goals in the 2011-2015 Global Plan to Stop Tuberculosis and analyze disbursements to different research areas by funders worldwide in 2014. We then summarize, through a compilation of published literature and consultation with 35 researchers across multiple disciplines in the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine TB Centre, priorities identified by the tuberculosis research community. Finally, we compare researchers' priority areas to the global funding agendas and activities. Our analysis shows that, among the five key research areas defined in the 2011-2015 Global Plan - namely drugs, basic science, vaccines, diagnostics and operational research - drug discovery and basic science on Mycobacterium tuberculosis accounted for 60% of the $2 billion annual funding target. None of the research areas received the recommended level of funding. Operational research, which had the lowest target, received 66% of its target funding, whereas new diagnostics received only 19%. Although many of the priority research questions identified by researchers fell within the Global Plan categories, our analysis highlights important areas that are not explicitly mentioned in the current plan. These priority research areas included improved understanding of tuberculosis transmission dynamics, the role of social protection and social determinants, and health systems and policy research. While research priorities are increasingly important in light of the limited funding for tuberculosis, there is a risk that we neglect important research areas and encourage the formation of research silos. To ensure that funding priorities, researchers' agendas and national tuberculosis control policies are better coordinated, there should be more, and wider, dialogue between stakeholders in high tuberculosis burden countries, researchers, international policymakers and funders. 2018-12-11T03:30:38Z 2019-03-14T08:02:08Z 2018-12-11T03:30:38Z 2019-03-14T08:02:08Z 2016-08-25 Letter BMC Medicine. Vol.14, No.1 (2016) 10.1186/s12916-016-0644-0 17417015 2-s2.0-84983479286 https://repository.li.mahidol.ac.th/handle/123456789/41201 Mahidol University SCOPUS https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?partnerID=HzOxMe3b&scp=84983479286&origin=inward
institution Mahidol University
building Mahidol University Library
continent Asia
country Thailand
Thailand
content_provider Mahidol University Library
collection Mahidol University Institutional Repository
topic Medicine
spellingShingle Medicine
Mishal S. Khan
Helen Fletcher
Richard Coker
Investments in tuberculosis research - what are the gaps?
description © 2016 The Author(s). Through decades of research, numerous studies have generated robust evidence about effective interventions for tuberculosis control. Yet, the global annual decline in incidence of approximately 1% is evidence that current approaches and investment strategies are not sufficient. In this article, we assess recent tuberculosis research funding and discuss two critical gaps in funding and in scientific evidence from topics that have been left off the research priority agenda. We first examine research and development funding goals in the 2011-2015 Global Plan to Stop Tuberculosis and analyze disbursements to different research areas by funders worldwide in 2014. We then summarize, through a compilation of published literature and consultation with 35 researchers across multiple disciplines in the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine TB Centre, priorities identified by the tuberculosis research community. Finally, we compare researchers' priority areas to the global funding agendas and activities. Our analysis shows that, among the five key research areas defined in the 2011-2015 Global Plan - namely drugs, basic science, vaccines, diagnostics and operational research - drug discovery and basic science on Mycobacterium tuberculosis accounted for 60% of the $2 billion annual funding target. None of the research areas received the recommended level of funding. Operational research, which had the lowest target, received 66% of its target funding, whereas new diagnostics received only 19%. Although many of the priority research questions identified by researchers fell within the Global Plan categories, our analysis highlights important areas that are not explicitly mentioned in the current plan. These priority research areas included improved understanding of tuberculosis transmission dynamics, the role of social protection and social determinants, and health systems and policy research. While research priorities are increasingly important in light of the limited funding for tuberculosis, there is a risk that we neglect important research areas and encourage the formation of research silos. To ensure that funding priorities, researchers' agendas and national tuberculosis control policies are better coordinated, there should be more, and wider, dialogue between stakeholders in high tuberculosis burden countries, researchers, international policymakers and funders.
author2 London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
author_facet London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
Mishal S. Khan
Helen Fletcher
Richard Coker
format Letter
author Mishal S. Khan
Helen Fletcher
Richard Coker
author_sort Mishal S. Khan
title Investments in tuberculosis research - what are the gaps?
title_short Investments in tuberculosis research - what are the gaps?
title_full Investments in tuberculosis research - what are the gaps?
title_fullStr Investments in tuberculosis research - what are the gaps?
title_full_unstemmed Investments in tuberculosis research - what are the gaps?
title_sort investments in tuberculosis research - what are the gaps?
publishDate 2018
url https://repository.li.mahidol.ac.th/handle/123456789/41201
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