Flows of financial resources for health research and development in Brazil, 2000-2002

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To map and measure the flows of financial resources for health research and development in Brazil for the years 2000-2002. METHODS: After adapting the methodology developed for the Center for Economic Policy Research, data were collected on the sources and uses of resources for health research and development. RESULTS: The annual average value of resources apportioned to health research and development was approximately US$ 573 million. The public sector as a whole invested US$ 417.3 million and the health department US$ 51.1 million. Expressed in percentages, the public sector invested 4.15% of the health department's budget although the Ministry of Health assigned only 0.3% of its budget to health research in the country. The universities and the research institutes are the main users of the resources allocated to health research and development, receiving 91.6% of the total public spending, while the private sector receives a small share of around 0.69% of the total. The private sector invested US$ 135.6 million per year, and the international organizations US$ 20.1 million per year. CONCLUSION: Besides measuring the financial resources made available for health research and development, the results allowed the filling of gaps in national information; the identification of the flows of applied financial resources; and the testing and adaptation of the proposed methodology, generating information suitable for international comparisons.