Setting global health research priorities: Ethics should also guide  global health research

doi:10.1136/bmj.326.7403.1399-b

BMJ 2003;326:1399 (21 June), doi:10.1136/bmj.326.7403.1399-b

Letter

Setting global health research priorities

Ethics should also guide global health research

The first 100% of the full text of this article appears below.

EDITOR—I applaud Labonte and Spiegel on their articleon the setting of global health research priorities.¹ They point out that the setting of such priorities must be seen notonly in the context of the burden of disease but also in termsof broader global issues pertaining to the environment andthe prevailing social, political, and economic conditions.They suggest several important principles by which global healthresearch might be prioritised.

I would like to suggest another key principle: "Research thatis based on sound ethical principles and avoids exploitationof vulnerable populations." In the post-genomic era, the promotionand upholding of sound ethics is key to ensuring that developingcountries benefit fully from the unprecedented knowledge advancesof the past decade.

Tikki Pang, director, research policy and cooperation

World Health Organization, Avenue Appia, CH-1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland pangt@who.int

Competing interests: None declared.