Worldchanging features the following very interesting proposal:
Open Access News points us towards an interesting
proposal: a global
Medical R&D Treaty (PDF) which obliges signatory nations to spend a certain percentage of GDP in support of core medical research, including the development of biomedical databases and tools, vaccines and drugs, and evaluations of those products.
More below the fold.
Additional credits can be earned by engaging in research on:
* R&D for neglected diseases and other priority research projects,
* "Open public goods," such as free and open source public databases,
* Projects that involve the transfer of technology and capacity to developing countries,
* The preservation and dissemination of traditional medical knowledge, and
* Exceptionally useful public goods.
Open and globally collaborative research is thereby encouraged, without being absolutely required.
A petition (which gives an excellent summary of the treaty requirements) was delivered as a letter yesterday to the World Health Organization, calling on members to sign the treaty.
Just imagine the impacts that this could have on many of the world's problems, and how much faster medical progress would be if it was less of a turf war between big money interests who hold all the patents and secrets. Competition is good, but it's even better with a healthy dose of collaboration!
More here.