Global health investments by U.S. institutions like the National Institutes of Health not only combat diseases abroad but also catalyze billions in domestic economic activity and create hundreds of thousands of jobs, according to recent population health research published in October 2026.
When a middle-aged patient visited an ophthalmology clinic in the United States with gritty, uncomfortable eyes, her prescription medication surprised her physician. She was using ivermectin—a drug well-known to researchers for treating onchocerciasis, a blinding parasitic worm condition more commonly known as river blindness in rural sub-Saharan Africa. Decades of international health research and collaboration, originally aimed at helping the global poor, had unexpectedly yielded a domestic treatment for eyelid inflammation, dry eyes, and rosacea.
Economic Returns and Job Creation at the NIH
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Public health investments demand considerable capital, but data show the financial returns are substantial. A 2012 report from the U.S. National Institutes of Health estimated that every $1 invested in global health research yields a return on investment of $2.21, with each research grant creating seven American jobs. Between 2008 and 2024, U.S. governmental institutions such as the NIH spent approximately $46 billion across three key areas: neglected diseases, emerging infectious diseases, and sexual and reproductive health. That funding catalyzed $104 billion in economic activity and generated 600,000 jobs within the U.S.
Despite these documented returns, proposed cuts to the NIH budget for 2027 threaten to undermine these programs.
Innovation Spillovers From Vaccines to Cancer Treatments
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The advantages of international research extend far beyond financial gains. A prominent example is a 1980s research partnership between GlaxoSmithKline and the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research that developed a lifesaving malaria vaccine. That vaccine now prevents up to one in eight childhood deaths in malaria-affected areas of sub-Saharan Africa. Furthermore, the technology underpinning that malaria vaccine serves as the foundation for shingles and RSV vaccines distributed in the U.S. and globally. The shingles vaccine alone is projected to prevent over 9 million cases in the U.S. and save the healthcare system $55 billion by 2050.
An even older precedent involves the tuberculosis vaccine developed by French scientists more than a century ago. In 1990, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved that same medication as a treatment for bladder cancer. Researchers estimate the therapy will prevent more than 300,000 cancer recurrences, save nearly 100,000 lives, and prevent nearly $12 billion in healthcare costs in the U.S. by 2050.
Unresolved Budget Pressures and Caregiving Needs
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Economists estimate that unpaid caregivers in the U.S. provide care valued in the trillions of dollars annually.