The application of biotechnology to health in developed and developing countries

The potential of biotechnology to ameliorate the health problems in developing countries is closely related to the population growth rate verus the growth rate in medical assistance. World population continues to grow at 1.5 percent per annum and is projected to reach 8 billion by 2020 and 11 billion by 2050. Almost all this growth will occur in the already over-populated, poorer region of Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, which are home to nearly 90 percent of the world population. Demands for food will double by the year 2025. A high proportion of the population of developing countries is facing malnutrition, infectious diseases, AIDS and other (re) emerging disease, and lacks resources for prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. Each country should finds its own way of overcoming these difficulties, emphasizing indigenous scientific development. Biotechnology lags behind in developing countries. There are few examples of local developments in medical biotechnology which have had great impact on the health of their population; the case of Cuba is a good example in this regard. In developed countries, there are hundreds of researhers working in molecular biology and biotechnology. Recombinant proteins, produced in bacteria, yeast and mammalian cells, are increasingly being used to produce new vaccines, drugs and diagnostic tests. Transgenic animals for pharmaceutical production and organ transplantation are in the pipeline. The Human Genome Project for diagnosing and predicting disease and disease susceptibility, with its possibilites for new ways to treat, cure, or even prevent thousands of disease, is close to completion. These are some examples of the enormous scientific achievements, fed by the revolution in communications and computer sciences, taking place in developed countries with strong economies and growing expenditure on health research. POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS: 1) The work of academic and non-academic organisations in developing countries must heighten the awareness of governments to biotechnology's application to health. 2) Greater commintment and contribution from international organisations. 3) Greater commitment and contribution from developed countries. 4) Strenghten south-south cooperation. 5) Increased commitment of the private sector in developing countries to the development of science and technology. 6) Greater attention from local governments to information technology.(Au)

Biodiversity, biotechnology, and sustainable development in health and agriculture: emerging connections

This publication, "Emerging Connections" for short, explores the scientific and technological alternatives; economic prospects; and environmental, legal, political, sociocultural, and institutional consequences and implications for countries at different stages of scientific and economic development, with different capabilities, and different natural resource endowments. Finally, it discusses whether Latin America's biodiversity will, in fact, become the region's new competitive advantage (Introd)

An overview of health-related industrial biotechnology in Latin American and the Caribbean

There is some uncertainty about the extent to which Latin America and the Caribbean have participated in the advances of health-related industrial biotechnology. This article reviews the available literature and seeks to provide an overview of the prevailing situation. In general, national governments and multinational agencies have provided most of the health-related biotechnology investments within this region. Efforts to achieve technology transfers, a subject of prime concern, have been developed by a number of programs including the WHO Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases, the UNDP/UNESCO/UNIDO Regional Biotechnology Program for Latin America and the Caribbean; PAHO's Program for the Regional Development of Biotechnology as Applied to Health; the PAHO/WHO Expanded Program of Immunization (EPI); and PAHO's Regional System of Vaccines (SIREVA). Regarding current production capacity, some successful efforts have been made to produce a variety of therapeutic products including recombinant and natural ionterferons, interleukins, insulin, and recombinant streptokinase; but in general the region's current potential in this area is at best incipient and uncertain. However, the region does have a limited ability to make diagnostic products and a well-established capacity for vaccine development. Overall, this picture suggests that the region has the potential to play a small but significant role in health-related biotechnology (AU).