The number of nanotechnology patent applications from China ranks third, behind the United States and Japan. In Brazil, the projected budget for nanoscience during 20042007 was about $25 million.
The challenges, Grodzinski said, include the complexity of bringing such treatments into the clinic and the cost of care. As a result, the distribution of nanotechnology treatments might be more gradual in some developing countries. ADDRESSING GLOBAL CHALLENGES
The South African Nanotechnology Initiative is a national network of academic researchers involved in nanotechnology, and other developing countries, such as Thailand, the Philippines, Chile, Argentina and Mexico, are pursuing nanotechnology, according to Singer’s paper
NANOTECHNOLOGY AND DISEASE In the United States, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Cancer Institute (NCI) has formed the Nanotechnology Alliance for Cancer to move more quickly molecular-based science from the laboratory into the clinic. "Nanotechnologies could revolutionize health care in developing countries,” said Alliance Director Piotr Grodzinski, “and make that claim millions of lives around the world each year." Nanomaterials and nanomedical devices, he added, “will play increasingly critical and beneficial roles in improving the way we diagnose, treat, and ultimately prevent cancer and other diseases.”
To help the international community support the application of nanotechnology to critical sustainable development challenges in developing countries, including health care, Singer and his group proposed an initiative called “Addressing Global Challenges Using Nanotechnology.” Modeled after the Foundation for the NIH/Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation's Grand Challenges in Global Health, the initiative would be funded by national and international foundations, and from collaboration among nanotechnology initiatives in industrialized and developing countries. Responsible development of nanotechnology must include benefits for people in both rich and poor nations and at relatively low cost,” Maynard said. “This also requires that careful attention be paid to possible risks nanotechnology poses for human health and the environment." (See related article.) The full text of Singer's 2005 study,
Nanotechnology and the Developing World, is available online. Information about the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies and the Global Health Initiative is available at the Woodrow Wilson International Center Web site. More information about the NIH/NCI Nanotechnology Alliance for Cancer is available at the NIH Web site.
It might one day be possible, for example, for citizens in Bangladesh to place contaminated water in inexpensive transparent bottles that will disinfect the water when placed in direct sunlight, or for doctors in Mexico to give patients vaccines that can be inhaled and that do not need to be refrigerated.
(USINFO is produced by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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