Research has shown that the global research investments on those diseases and relevant interventions that are causes of high child mortality in the world receive significantly low allocation of fund compared to diseases with substantially low global burden of disease. As a consequence today two thirds of the under-five child deaths globally could have been prevented if available and cost effective interventions were delivered to the target populations. The dominant research priority setting models do not take global burden of disease and delivery of effective interventions as the most important guiding criteria for allocating funds.  Therefore, the current research investments priority setting models are actually increasing further health inequity and resulting in gross under-achievements of reduction of potential disease burdens.

Therefore, OCHRC was created with the mandate to advocate research programs directed at addressing the conditions responsible for the most important diseases suffered by children, especially in developing countries where the major burden of disease remains.

OSLO CHILD HEALTH RESEARCH CENTER (OCHRC) is an international foundation with the vision to improve child health and nutrition of all children in low and middle income countries through research that informs health policy and practice. OCHRC’s efforts support the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of:

• Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
• Goal 4: Reduce child mortality
• Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases

OCHRC is helping to set research priorities in child health, development and nutrition, and trying to resolve related methodological issues. It also sponsors priority child health and nutrition research, especially in low- and middle-income countries, with a focus on research that can generate information to form sound policies for scaling up effective interventions. OCHRC also aims at increasing the level of communication and discussion amongst players working on research on child health and nutrition, such as researchers, policymakers, donors, students, specialists, healthcare providers and NGOs. It provides a common platform for the stakeholders through a web-based Online Community that allows them to initiate, discuss, collaborate and maintain communication on child health and nutrition research topics. OCHRC Online Community wants to help in bringing together scientists and implementing bodies to discuss issues relevant to the current status of knowledge and the requirements for the future of global child health and nutrition.