R&D prioritized by US global development policy draft, USAID administrator

GHTC applauds recognition that research is central to US global health efforts

A draft of the National Security Council's document on US global development policy, recently published in Foreign Policy's "The Cable," reveals several vital and promising developments in foreign assistance reform. The document, which outlines details from the Presidential Study Directive-7, recognizes that research and development of new tools is critical to reaching overall US development goals. The document lists investing in "game-changing innovations with the potential to solve longstanding development challenges" as one of its five pillars, with a focus on increasing public- and private-sector funding for development research, fostering innovation, and capitalizing on new and sustainable models to develop new tools such as vaccines.

In addition, US Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Rajiv Shah highlighted science and technology as one of the agency's four core areas during a town hall meeting in Washington DC this week. Shah noted that USAID will find "new ways to leverage science and technology to develop and deliver those tools and innovations that we believe can lead to exponential growth and transformational change." He added that "humanity demands" vaccines for HIV/AIDS, TB, and malaria, as well as low-cost pneumonia and rotavirus vaccines that will "eliminate hundreds of thousands of child deaths."

Developing new health tools is key to making foreign assistance more effective and sustainable, and the Global Health Technologies Coalition applauds this elevation of research and development. See the links below for more details.