Revisiting the concept of Innovative Developing Countries (IDCs) for its relevance to health innovation and neglected tropical diseases and for the prevention and control of epidemics

摘要

Author summary Splitting countries into two groups rich and poor; developed (the 'North') and developing (the 'South'); leaders and followers appears to us to be progressively more simplistic, unrealistic and a heritage from colonial times. Triggered by the first wave of globalization, the share of world income going to today's wealthy nations soared from twenty to almost seventy percent between 1820 and 1990, a fact that supported and strengthened this dichotomic vision; however, the new globalization driven by information technology has propelled the rapid industrialization of several developing nations and simultaneous deindustrialization of developed nations, a phenomenon that has not yet been fully understood nor reflected in traditional economic indexes and analyses. In this article we revisit the 2005 concept of Innovative Developing Countries (IDCs) that points to the underrepresentation of IDCs in well-known innovation indexes and country ranks. Our analysis clearly shows a prominent role for IDCs in health innovation, research and development on NTDs and in epidemics preparedness, prevention and control.