ECONOMIC VALUATION OF SCIENTIFIC PRODUCTION IN HEALTH IN COLOMBIA. 2000 - 2005

Objective. To economically estimate health Research in Colombia, partially financed by Colciencias starting from the administration of the Fund for Research in Health (FRH) 2001 - 2005. Materials and methods. An economic valuation was conducted from perspective of the society and the State, considering intermediate results for which two scenarios were adopted (maximum and minimum). Results. 338 projects were reviewed (48.7% financed by Colciencias). The mean cost per project was 287 millions. The growth of resources for project contributed by the FRH was of 75% in real terms and the financing ratio Colciencias / counter part, increased from 0.8 in 2001 to 1.1 in 2005. The department with greatest participation was Antioquia (30.2%), which through 2005 had concluded 57 (16.8%) with a cost of 8.889 million (9.7%). As products, the following stands out: 30 articles submitted to national journals and 35 submitted to international journals, 69 participations in congresses, and the training of four doctors and 24 Masters of Sciences. The formation of human talent represents more than 95% percent of the benefits. The benefitcost ratio oscillates between 4.72 and 6.34 (for each monetary unit invested in health research more than six times that investment is generated for society). Conclusions. The economic valuation highlights the important fact that, in the execution of research projects, researchers are trained, in front of the high returns that this implies. For this reason, Colciencias can strengthen the valuation of its funded research projects by considering the positive value of the training of new investigators.