BackgroundNew approaches and tools were needed to support the strategic planning, implementation and management of a Program launched by the Brazilian Government to fund research, development and capacity building on neglected tropical diseases with strong focus on the North, Northeast and Center-West regions of the country where these diseases are prevalent.Methodology/Principal FindingsBased on demographic, epidemiological and burden of disease data, seven diseases were selected by the Ministry of Health as targets of the initiative. Publications on these diseases by Brazilian researchers were retrieved from international databases, analyzed and processed with text-mining tools in order to standardize author- and institution's names and addresses. Co-authorship networks based on these publications were assembled, visualized and analyzed with social network analysis software packages. Network visualization and analysis generated new information, allowing better design and strategic planning of the Program, enabling decision makers to characterize network components by area of work, identify institutions as well as authors playing major roles as central hubs or located at critical network cut-points and readily detect authors or institutions participating in large international scientific collaborating networks.Conclusions/SignificanceTraditional criteria used to monitor and evaluate research proposals or R&D Programs, such as researchers' productivity and impact factor of scientific publications, are of limited value when addressing research areas of low productivity or involving institutions from endemic regions where human resources are limited. Network analysis was found to generate new and valuable information relevant to the strategic planning, implementation and monitoring of the Program. It afforded a more proactive role of the funding agencies in relation to public health and equity goals, to scientific capacity building objectives and a more consistent engagement of institutions and authors from endemic regions based on innovative criteria and parameters anchored on objective scientific data.

The deficiencies in Brazilian science and technology policies with regard to the challenges of the twenty-first century are discussed, while acknowledging that these policies have in some respects been very successful. The importance of health research within the framework of general endeavors in science, technology and innovation in this country is also demonstrated. The distribution of research around the world is then summarized, and a specific position is claimed for Brazil, along with some other countries, within the global panorama. Some elements needed for maturation of the sectoral system for health innovation are discussed. Finally, the need for the presence of the Ministry of Health within the panorama of health research, for this maturation process to take place adequately, is discussed.

ResumoDescreve-se a pesquisa em epidemiologia no Brasil na atualidade. Utiliza várias fontes secundárias de dados, com ênfase na versão 4.0 do Diretório dos Grupos de Pesquisa no Brasil (2000) do CNPq (Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico). O critério para o reconhecimento de grupo integrante da massa crítica em epidemiologia foi o desenvolvimento, pelo menos, de uma linha de pesquisa nessa subárea, conforme definido pelo líder do grupo. Foi identificado o universo da pesquisa epidemiológica, que se constituiu de 176 grupos e 320 linhas de pesquisa. Foram apresentadas e discutidas as relações entre o financiamento para a pesquisa, tendo como foco os programas de pós-graduação incluídos no sistema Capes (Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal do Ensino Superior), e as pesquisas em saúde, em saúde coletiva e epidemiologia, a capacidade instalada de pesquisa em epidemiologia, sua distribuição geográfica e institucional, os pesquisadores e os estudantes que participam diretamente das linhas de pesquisa, os temas de pesquisa, os padrões de divulgação de resultados das pesquisas e os periódicos em que são publicados os artigos completos. Abstract The current epidemiological research in Brazil is described. Secondary data sources were consulted, such as the year 2000 database of the Brazilian Directory of Research Groups and the National Board of Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq

This paper discusses the basis for a Brazilian National Policy in Science, Technology, and Innovation in Health (PNCTI/S)

Resumo O artigo discute a complexidade da pandemia destacando as várias dimensões, intrínsecas e extrínsecas envolvidas no desenvolvimento das vacinas contra o SARS-CoV-2, com ênfase nos dois produtos mais avançados no campo dos testes clínicos. São eles, a vacina desenvolvida pela Universidade de Oxford associada à farmacêutica britânica AstraZeneca e a desenvolvida pela empresa chinesa Sinovac. Essa escolha deriva também do fato das duas estarem com atividades de testagem e, caso bem-sucedidas, com futura produção no Brasil, respectivamente pelo Bio-Manguinhos, na Fiocruz, e pelo Instituto Butantã, em São Paulo. Do ponto de vista conceitual, o artigo parte da reflexão oriunda do campo da Saúde Coletiva que trata das fronteiras entre o biológico e o social. Procura ainda demonstrar que, caso sejam bem sucedidas, as vacinas, muito embora importantes ferramentas para o enfrentamento da pandemia, não dispensarão a continuidade de outras medidas não farmacológicas já utilizadas.