Investments in respiratory infectious disease research 1997–2010: a systematic analysis of UK funding

Head, Michael G; Fitchett, Joseph R; Cooke, Mary K; Wurie, Fatima B; Hayward, Andrew C; Lipman, Marc C; Atun, Rifat

Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) arose in China in 2002 and rapidly caused over 8000 cases with case fatality of almost 10%, 7 and the emergence in 2013 of the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus has caused global concern. 8 Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) is estimated to cause each year 33 million new episodes of RSVassociated acute lower respiratory tract infection worldwide in children younger than five years; and up to an estimated 199 000 deaths per year -almost all of which are in low-income settings. 9 The variable coverage of the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine is well documented, 10 and measles is still responsible for considerable disease burden globally (14.8 million DALYs in 2010). 1 Amongst other infections, owing to several notable outbreaks, pertussis has received media coverage in highincome countries. 11 Respiratory infections have been implicated in the aetiology of chronic respiratory diseases, such as asthma, 12 chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder, 13 and cystic fibrosis, 14 as well as acting as a trigger for acute cardiovascular events. 15 UK institutions have received an estimated £2.6 billion of public and charitable funding to carry out infectious disease research between 1997 and 2010, of which around one-third was designated as related to global health, 16 and according to estimates from Policy Cures, the UK ranks second globally in terms of the amount of R&D funding for infectious disease research. 17 Funding covers all types of science along the R&D value chain from pre-clinical to operational and implementation research. We report on the funding for respiratory infection-related research awarded to UK institutions. We identify areas of research strength and possible investment gaps in relation to respiratory global health that will be of relevance to policy-makers, funders and researchers, and briefly discuss how new approaches might help with allocating existing resources and identifying new sources of investment.