UK Neglected Disease Research Delivers Huge Health and Economic Impact
- Video
25 April 2025
UK Neglected Disease Research Delivers Huge Health and Economic Impact
A new report supported by Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine has revealed that UK research and development into neglected diseases offers a staggering return on investment, in both health and economic terms. The UK’s funding – if sustained – would produce a societal return across the world of £1.39 trillion by 2040, including saving nearly 1.5 million lives.
The new report, published on World Malaria Day by Impact Global Health in collaboration with LSTM, also found that the UK directly benefits from R&D into diseases like malaria, HIV and tuberculosis. It revealed that the UK economy would gain an additional boost of £7.7 billion by 2040 from public funding of neglected disease R&D. Some £6 billion has already been gained but around £1.5 billion, equivalent to an average of £100 million a year, is yet to be felt and is contingent on funding being sustained.
LSTM has collaborated with Impact Global Health on a landmark report that demonstrates the benefit of UK global health funding in saving lives, preventing disease, and driving the UK and regional economy. This is a critical time for this report to be published as the UK funding towards global health research and development is under threat.
UK Global Health funding is critical to organizations like LSTM as it enable us to deliver our mission of healthy lives across the world. Using this funding, we can undertake cutting edge research that addresses disease like HIV, malaria and tb, and make a huge impact in both saving lives. And fending diseases in low middle income countries.