The 5% Solution

AllAfrica and scidev.net London report on Peter Singer's (of Toronto) comments last week to the effect that the world's wealthiest countries should "allocate five per cent of their total spending on research and development to [fund scientific] projects that are directly related to the needs of developing countries." The context is the amazing study his research group in Toronto published in Nature Biotech in December, in which Singer and colleagues found that research in the developing world is burgeoning and needs only resources in order to grow dramatically.

Could this actually work? Would countries that spend a lot on research give their research dollars to fund competing efforts in tiny nations?

Canada, he says, has already taken up the charge:

Canada's prime minister, Paul Martin, keen to re-establish his country's reputation as a generous source of support for the developing world, has already taken up such a suggestion, and has recommended that his country should adopt the figure of five per cent as an official target.

He expects - amazingly - that Britain and indeed the entire G8 may adopt something like this guideline. And on a related note the EU has begun funding of an Africa research ethics group. Good stuff.

Now if only California could give 5% of Proposition 71 to stem cell research programs in developing nations...