"A Framework for Developing a Research Agenda for Diseases Disproportionately Affecting the Poor: The Cases of Malaria, Diabetes, and Rotavirus"
Alyna Smith, Secretariat of Commission on Intellectual Property, Innovation and Public Health (CIPIH)
In this paper, we consider three diseases -- malaria, diabetes, and rotavirus -- selected because of their contrasts. Parasitic, viral and noncommunicable diseases all have a major impact on health in developing countries, though the nature of the challenge they present, and consequently of the tools needed to address them, vary considerably. These contrasts can illuminate key issues that should be considered in making proposals that are meaningful across a range of conditions, which potentially fall under the umbrella of diseases relevant to the Commission. Malaria, diabetes and rotavirus have, it can be argued, more contrasts than comparisons. They represent a small sample of diseases with a considerable burden in developing countries, and suggest the very different nature of the problems -- and viable solutions -- at issue with regard to their management and control.