Description: Low-income countries face a massive under-investment in  research for health relevant to their needs. Factors that contribute to this problem include inadequate funding for research for health in and by poor countries, limited participation of scientists from developing countries in both international research and the global policy arena, and the lack of funding for research for health at the country level. The support of development cooperation agencies for research for health is often limited, not harmonised between agencies and unaligned with developing countries’ health and  research for health priorities. Donors’ ability to effectively align with countries’ strategies tends to be restricted by a lack of comprehensive and operational  researchfor  healthpolicies and strategies, and a failure to include  research for health in countries’ Poverty Reduction Strategies Programmes.

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