12“TDR is in a unique position to ‘steward’ and promote newperspectives, and new research and capacity building initiativesto address global neglected disease priorities. ”
PART ITDR in a changing global health landscapeIntroduction by TDR Director Dr Robert Ridley<strong>The</strong> institutions and policies driving internationalhealth have undergone enormous change in recentyears. World attention on diseases of poverty has beendriven by civil society, governments, philanthropicorganizations, health workers and researchers, and hasled to a focus on the UN Millennium DevelopmentGoals (MDGs). Health research is a key componentof this change. It should be better appreciated as awise investment that can reap huge returns for humandevelopment, saving money and lives and enrichingindividuals and communities.An expansion of product development partnerships(PDPs) is among the recent developments, helping tofind novel ways of fighting disease through the developmentof new and improved treatments, diagnosticsand other interventions. Continued investment andadvances in basic science improve our knowledge andunderstanding of the interplay between infectiousdisease agents, the humans they infect and the vectors(often insects such as mosquitoes) that aid theirtransmission. <strong>The</strong> global armoury against diseases goeson expanding, and steps continue to be made towardsthe further elimination of several diseases, with talkby some of even globally eliminating malaria. If suchelimination is to occur, however, increased attentionwill need to be paid to research that not only producesinnovative tools, but that better informs how interventionsare best administered and made accessible withinresource poor communities.<strong>The</strong> scope of health research has thus expanded, sothat basic and clinical health research is beginning tobe better complemented by much-needed research insocial science, operations, implementation and healthsystems. This is exemplified by the release of the2008 report of the WHO Commission on the SocialDeterminants of Health. Sectors such as agriculture,education and the environment are now included aspart of a broader ‘research for health’ approach, withthe need to link the organization of health researchwithin the broader structures promoting science andtechnology in countries increasingly well recognised.This holistic approach should lead to better, moresustainable research and interventions that are directedtowards country and community needs. Success willonly come, however, if it is recognized that developingcountries now have enhanced abilities to undertake,manage, initiate and lead research. Sustainableadvances require strengthening these capabilities andenabling developing country ownership, responsibilityand leadership within the many national and globalresearch initiatives being launched to address infectiousdiseases of poverty.TDR has played a major role in many of the advancesreferred to above, and in many cases, laid thefoundation for new models and approaches that weretaken forward by other organizations. As the leadingUN-based organization dedicated to research on infectiousdiseases of poverty, TDR is in a unique positionto ‘steward’ and promote new perspectives, and newresearch and capacity building initiatives to addressglobal neglected disease priorities. A historical reviewof TDR’s contributions to tropical disease research andcapacity building since its inception was published in2007 to celebrate the 30 th anniversary of TDR’s uniqueco-sponsored and intergovernmental governing body,its Joint Coordinating Board (JCB). It is available onlineat www.who.int/tdr.Nineteenth programme report | TDR 2007-200813
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