A global health strategy to capitalize on proven-effective interventions for heart, lung, and blood diseases.

Abstract

Global health research has historically been a high priority endeavor at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and currently represents one of the five priorities of the NIH Director.1 Recognizing that science and disease have no national borders, NIH has encouraged its Institutes, Centers, and Offices to work with the Fogarty International Center to support biomedical research and research training across the globe.2, 3 In this effort, many Institutes including the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, National Cancer Institute, National Eye Institute and National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, and others, have established or expanded their global health programs. More recently, the US Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) produced a report calling for a more robust US engagement in global health, especially for non-communicable diseases (NCDs).4, 5 In the report, a task force commissioned by CFR analyzed the case for increased U.S. focus on NCDs by examining countries that received significant U.S. health assistance and found that the premature burden of death and disability in many of these countries was heavily NCD-related.5 The CFR finds two compelling global health interests that justify increasing the US engagement with NCDs. First, NCDs undermine the effectiveness of existing U.S. global health investments. Second, NCDs represent an opportunity for the U.S. government to build on existing U.S. global health platforms that can achieve sustainable reductions in premature death and disability that disproportionately affect the poor.