It was constituted in 1987 with 12 members and produced a report titled Health Research: Essential Link to Equity in Development published in 1990.
[1] The Commission began with the premise that research has the potential to contribute health and development, but the way it is financed, conducted and steered is not adequately addressing the needs of the most vulnerable populations and countries.
The Commission was one of the first to recognise the global disparity in research funding and outputs which were predominantly focused on health problems of the affluent populations and countries.
[3] The report also facilitated the setting of the Ad Hoc Committee on Health Research Relating to Future Intervention Options by the WHO in 1996.
The Commission had 12 members: John R Evans (Canada) chair, Gelia T. Castillo (Philippines) deputy-chair, Fazle Hasan Abed (Bangladesh), Sune D. Bergstrom (Sweden), Doris Howes Calloway (United States), Essmat S. Ezzat (Egypt), Demissie Habte (Ethiopia), Walter J. Kamba (Zimbabwe), Adetokunbo O. Lucas (Nigeria), Adolfo Martinez-Palomo (Mexico), Saburo Okita (Japan), V. Ramalingaswami (India).