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Global health research makes America richer and healthier

<name>Joshua R. Ehrlich, Associate professor, University of Michigan</name> <foaf:homepage rdf:resource="https://theconversation.com/profiles/joshua-r-ehrlich-2646554"/>· 1 octobre 2026

Global health research has proved to be a solid economic investment, in addition to helping make the world healthier. Noko LTD/E+ via Getty Images Recently, a middle-aged woman came to see me in my ophthalmology clinic because her eyes felt gritty and uncomfortable. She had seen another doctor a mo…

Résumé

Unexpected medical benefits

A patient in the U.S.

was treated for itchy eyes using ivermectin, a drug originally developed to combat river blindness (a parasitic disease causing skin damage and blindness in sub-Saharan Africa).

This case illustrates how global health research, aimed at neglected tropical diseases, can yield unexpected medical benefits in wealthy countries.

Ivermectin was later found effective for eyelid inflammation, dry eyes, and rosacea.

This is not an isolated case; global health research has repeatedly produced treatments that improve health in high-income countries, often through innovation spillover—where discoveries in one context lead to unexpected applications elsewhere.

For example, research on a malaria vaccine in the 1980s also contributed to vaccines for shingles and RSV, which are now used in the U.S.

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