Geneva, October 12, 2001.

 

 

 

 

Global Forum for Health Research Foundation Meeting Promoted by

 

the WHO and Major Donors of the World

 

 

 

 

My last Intervention in the Final Plenary Session of Forum 5 in Favor of a Global Health Research Initiative on Terrorism Causes and Prevention, and of a Global Human Social Research Project.

 

 

Rodolfo Stusser, researcher of a health center at Havana, Cuba.

 

I congratulate the two presentations about genomics and the three ones on the health research collaboration strategies and actions post-Bangkok, and want to state a personal concern about the global strategy of health research.

 

Unfortunately, with the recent fanatic terrorist attack to USA, I have to say with sorrow that the world has become aware with these highest levels of violent behaviors, that if are not investigated their causes and scientifically prevented, they could make impossible the future use and enjoyment in the practice of the wonderful results heard this morning here from the biomedical model through the Human Genome Project.

 

In my opinion, it seems necessary to find or create the structures and alliances in the UN organizations, COHRED, GFHR, World Bank, and many other institutions, not only in WHO, to approach with the socio-health model the great scientific challenges in matters of social, psychological, criminological, economical, and even public political problems that centuries ago created the poor infrastructure in most countries, for the opening first, of a social and economical progressive gap between the North and the South, and afterwards, of the 10/90 gap in health research investments detected and attacked complementarily by the WHO, COHRED, GFHR, World Bank, and other institutions in the last decade. 

 

Something is still lacking more specifically in the health research strategy of the world in this 21-century to be able to solve the global health problems.

 

For me is something that has been requested since the 1990s from several health authorities in USA and other countries, as  counterpart of the Human Genome Project: the design and carry out of a Global Project well-supported too, on basic Human Development, Public Health, Epidemiology, Behavior, Clinical Medicine, and Nursing.

 

If this strategic need is not fulfilled, it is possible that some of us could not see the full applications in the clinical practice and in the health of the populations of the wonderful Genome Project Results!

 

Thank you Dr. Chunharas.