The health sector itself has little time and precious few resources to waste. Pressure is mounting to develop an evidence base—borrowing a World Health Organization paradigm—that will get the right products and strategies into the right hands at the right time to do the right thing to improve health for the most people. Such a paradigm requires policymakers to heed science—to listen to medical, population health and social scientists who are committed to advancing health equity by evaluating and proving what works. It also requires fundamental cooperation on all fronts—institutional, local, national and global.

A number of global crises usher in the second decade of the new millennium this month: climate change, food security and health among them. Exacerbating each is the world’s economic recession that thus far shows little reprieve, especially for poorer nations. In this environment, the logical demand is being raised for science to pay more attention to the public interest and devote more of its efforts to finding solutions to the world’s big problems.