INAHTA requires that members are funded by at least 50% from public sources.

Public funding means government funding, or its equivalent, for example:

• Funds generated through taxation;
• Contributions to social health insurance schemes or social security organizations that are administered by legal entities accountable to the public health system at the regional or national level;
• Research grants that come from public bodies (e.g., World Bank, WHO, European Union, National Institutes of Health, or other type of public research body that allocates public funds).

Funding from foundations will be considered by the Board on a case-by-case basis.  A ‘foundation’ is defined as an organization that is created and supported with money that people give in order to do something that helps society. (Source: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/foundation). Foundation money may be considered public if it is clearly demonstrated to come from a public source or which otherwise serves the general public interest with no commercial or industry interest (e.g., the Gates Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, or other similar entities). Foundations that serve commercial or industry interests (i.e., those that are created by or funded by industry) or those that otherwise have commercial expectations of the outcomes of the grant will not be considered acceptable.

The reason INAHTA requires that members are funded at least 50% by public sources is to avoid conflict of interest related to commercial or industry funding.  Commercial/industry interests are considered private interests.  Examples of commercial/industry/private funds include money from:

• The pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device manufacturers and consulting companies who do work on behalf of these manufacturers;
• Private health insurance schemes or private health organizations (i.e., those not accountable to the public health system).