THE GLOBAL REPORT FOR RESEARCH ON INFECTIOUS DISEASES OF POVERTY

Sunday, 29th of April 2012

'An index of infectious diseases of poverty that is based on the prevalence and incidence of infectious diseases can act as a barometer of health and development.'

THE GLOBAL REPORT FOR RESEARCH ON INFECTIOUS DISEASES OF POVERTY

Option 1

Excerpts from the summary of key findings. Full summary is at

http://www.who.int/tdr/stewardship/global_report/Summary_advocacy_web.pdf

Option 1

Create and use a new index of infectious diseases of poverty to serve as a surrogate marker of national socioeconomic development

Despite the fact that infectious diseases of poverty are typically among the most critical factors limiting a country’s economic development,there is at present no simple, easily understood composite index or rating system that includes the status of the control and elimination of these diseases. In a global society that is driven by flows of information across borders and into major capitals, the lack of such an index may explain why these diseases have such low visibility in the international health and development community.

An index of infectious diseases of poverty that is based on the prevalence and incidence of infectious diseases can act as a barometer of health and development. Countries can monitor their progress in the control of these diseases with an index like this that is updated at regular intervals. The index can also generate major interest from the media, other stakeholders and the general public that in turn persuades policy-makers, funders and researchers that investments in improving health also improve socioeconomic prosperity. This is particularly important as infectious diseases of poverty lost much of their visibility during the first ten years’ implementation of the MDGs.

An infectious diseases of poverty index could also influence the MDGs in their next iteration (e.g. through identification of target diseases among target populations), and so influence future global action. The creation of the Index of Infectious Diseases of Poverty will require a concerted effort among health and development stakeholders, in a process aimed at identifying readily available indicators that can be deployed for this purpose. The index could be used to quickly monitor and evaluate trends in relation to infectious diseases of poverty and the impacts of interventions. The index could be disaggregated according to local, national or regional criteria to allow policy-makers in disease endemic countries to monitor and evaluate their own efforts in tackling infectious diseases. Funders could use the index to prioritize areas of research so that funding is geared according to need.