Beyond DALY: public funding of health innovation in Brazil as a political strategy for equity in the Global South.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) are widely used to prioritize public funding for science, technology and innovation (ST&I) in health. In universal systems such as Brazil's Unified Health System (SUS), however, allocation decisions may also incorporate broader political and social considerations.

Objective

To assess whether Brazilian public ST&I funding for neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) and Zika (2006-2019) aligned with disease burden measured by DALYs, and to examine how observed funding patterns reflect political commitments to health equity and innovation in the Global South.

Methods

Cross-sectional analysis of national research calls (2006-2019). Actual disbursements were compared with expected values proportional to the DALY distribution for

SUBMITTER: de Oliveira JHP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12771692 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature