Priority setting for health research: lessons from developing countries

Research resources for addressing health problems of developing countries r emain disproportionately low compared with the tremendous disease burdens b orne by these countries. There is a need to focus these scarce resources on research that will optimize health benefits and lead to equity. This paper reviews processes and methods that have been used for setting research pri orities. Past and current processes have focused on expert-driven research agenda, emphasizing scientific autonomy and global analyses. Methods for se tting priorities have focused on the metrics of disease burdens, while less attention has been placed on who sets' priorities and how choices are made . The paper proposes a strategy of priority setting, based on lessons learned from essential national health research (ENHR) approaches attempted in sev eral developing countries. With equity in health and develop ment as its go al, the proposed model is demand-driven, and involves multi-dimensional inp uts and multiple stakeholders. Various steps of the process are discussed: getting participants involved; gathering evidence and information; determin ing criteria for priority setting; and implementation and evaluation. The p aper concludes with a discussion of the gap between national research prior ities and the research agenda set at regional and global levels, an issue t hat needs to be satisfactorily addressed in the future.