The gap between research and burden of disease to widen over the next two decades

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2025-08-27 19:00

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The alignment of research into diseases and the global burden of those diseases has become more closely aligned over the past two decades, but this trend is unlikely to continue, according to international researchers, who say it may widen by a third over the next two decades. The team linked 8.6 million disease-specific publications to two decades of global disease burden data, finding that since 1999, the research and the burden of disease have become much more aligned. The team found that this is due to regional declines in infectious diseases, while other disease burdens have increased, and research efforts have not changed to match changes in disease burden. The team say their simulations suggest that without international alignment, the alignment of research and burden of disease will widen by a third over the next two decades, and is likely to be accelerated by the reduction of US public funding for international research.