“A group that tracks funding for neglected diseases released its fourth annual report Wednesday, showing for the first time since 2007 a decrease in government and public spending in global health research and development,” the Center for Global Health Policy’s “Science Speaks” blog reports (Mazzotta, 12/7). The Global Funding of Innovation for Neglected Diseases (G-FINDER) survey report, conducted by Policy Cures and funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, found that “[p]ublic funding from the world’s richest nations for research and development (R&D) of new neglected disease products fell by US$125 million (down six percent) in 2010,” a Policy Cures press release (.pdf) states (12/7).

The decline “was partly offset by a 28 percent boost in funding from the not-for-profit programs of pharmaceutical companies,” Nature writes. “HIV research and development funding saw the greatest funding decrease, with a $70 million drop from the year before,” while tuberculosis (TB) was “one of the few areas to experience an increase in funding — a $30 million or six percent increase in 2010,” according to the magazine (Wadman, 12/7). Nature features a second article examining HIV funding details from the Policy Cures report (Wadman, 12/7).