More Equitable North/South Research Partnership

Local research and innovation matter to develop sustainable solutions for health problems in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). In the past few years, this has increasingly been recognised. However, such sustainability is only achievable if research funding allows for capacity building and sharing of other benefits from research partnerships. Ultimately, leaving the low income partner in a more empowered position.

Experience suggests that, on occasion, high income country (HIC) institutions insist on a number of preconditions prior to collaborating, which disadvantage lower income partners – for example, the claiming of publication rights, exclusive data ownership, or intellectual property rights by HIC partners. As a result, international research partnerships often leave little behind in terms of capacity.

Health research has not only increased in quantity and geographical distribution, but also in terms of its complexity of study design, multi-centre collaboration and the allocation of intellectual property rights and of other benefits of research to participating institutions and individuals. For this reason, most research institutions, universities and research sponsors in HICs have set up elaborate research contracting departments and services. [...]