Improving Health in Developing Countries: Building In-Country Research Capacity is Critical to Staving off Epidemics and Finding Long-Term Solutions to Critical Health Needs‪.‬

International initiatives to combat diseases have proliferated, in some cases dramatically, during the past decade. For example, world spending on HIV/AIDS has increased from $300 million in 1996 to about $5 billion in 2003. President Bush's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief alone has promised to deliver $15 billion during the next five years to combat the epidemic. Initiatives such as the president's plan are valuable in the fight against HIV/AIDS in that they support and build in-country health infrastructures for prevention, care, and treatment. However, there is an additional and equally important piece of the puzzle that is largely missing: a scientific infrastructure in emerging and developing countries that provides in-country capabilities to respond to health crises.