ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the range and complexity of the health problems that confront society. AIDS is an extremely interesting case. In the industrialized countries support for research on the health problems of the tropics is also very limited. Support for health stands in sharp contrast to the AID Title XII program in support of agricultural research with its extensive system of collaborative research networks. The Department of Health and Human Services has exhibited little leadership. When the Office of International Health, a small office under the Surgeon General, was reorganized no one in the field even knew the name of the director. The Centers for Disease Control has a small program that is very focused and almost entirely AID contracted. The World Health Organization has been helpful in bringing together groups that have asked strategic questions, it has, in certain areas, been useful in developing a research and action agenda.
