Global health care goals for the poor not being met, Beijing conference is told

This year's Global Forum for Health Research, held in Beijing, China, heard the hosting nation's Health Minister, Chen Zhu, open the four-day meeting by telling delegates that more investment is being channelled into strengthening disease prevention and control, as well as to expedite the development of health services in both rural and urban communities, as he noted that resources are unequally spread between them.

World Health Organization Director General Margaret Chan said public health depends on research in many areas, including inventing new drugs and vaccines, and establishing a health care system that offers quality and equal access for all. She added: "we are at the mid-point in the countdown to 2015...We have to face the reality. Of all the goals, those directly related to health care are the least likely to be met."

Also, Foundation Council of Global Forum for Health Research chairperson Pramilla Senanayake said, however, that the last 20 years have also seen global inequities in research. Dr Senanayake pointed out that only a fraction of the $126.0 billion that was spent on health R&D worldwide in 2003 focused on the poor.