“Research funding analyses found a large amount of global research funding – $577m average per year – mentioning newborn and stillbirth terms but despite some increases, a mere 7% is allocated to LMICs where 98% of the newborn and stillbirth burden occurs. The world’s largest research database (Dimensions AI) with >6 million grants made this novel work possible, with analyses also led by a team linked to LSHTM and NEST360.
Encouragingly, the funds allocated by BRICS countries for research on newborns and stillbirths in their own countries increased from 2011-2020. Importantly, stillbirths receive markedly less funding – only 2% – despite the large burden of 2 million deaths in 2020, happening in both high- and low-income settings. Despite the urgent need for evidence-based implementation, research has consistently received only around 3% of total funding, with the majority going to basic lab research. The top 10 funders account for most of the grants, notably The National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Both studies bring focus on the need for data-based allocation of donor and research funding in newborn and stillbirth in all countries with more accountability and equity to enable faster progress to reach the newborn survival and stillbirth prevention targets.” -Implementation Toolkit for Care of the Small and Sick Newborn