Key to successful global health collaborations: research, ethics and community engagement and involvement

Democracy is the government of the people, by the people and for the people, according to the ancient Greeks and Abraham Lincoln. Similarly, health research needs to be of low- and middle-income country (LMIC) people, by LMIC people and for people in LMICs, as well as of, by and for people in high-income countries (HICs).

Vestigial views of ‘global health research should be driven by our agenda and the outputs belong to us since we pay for it’ can still be heard despite the calls for and drive towards more equitable partnerships in global health. Organisations such as the US NIH (Working Group on Promoting Equity in Global Health Research Collaborations)1 and the UKRI (UK Collaborative on Development Research ‘Building Partnerships of Equals’)2 are working towards fairer research partnerships.