By Neil Offen

noffen@heraldsun.com; 419-6646

DURHAM -- With more than 7,000 jobs and $508 million in salaries, North Carolina's global health initiatives contribute at least $2 billion to the state's economy each year, according to a new report by Duke University researchers.

The report is based on 2007 data "and it's a very conservative analysis," said Michael Merson, founding director of the Duke Global Health Institute. "Undoubtedly there has been significant growth in the global health sector since then."

The results of the analysis "demonstrate the prominence of global health in North Carolina," Merson added. "It has significant economic impact here -- while also improving the lives of people across the world.

The report -- "Why Global Health Matters to North Carolina" -- was presented Monday at a global health forum at the N.C. Biotechnology Center. The forum also served to announce the launching of a new global health partnership.

The Triangle Global Health Consortium, which groups Duke, UNC Chapel Hill and N.C. State universities, along with prominent local nongovernmental groups Family Health International, Research Triangle Institute and IntraHealth International, is designed to promote collaborative research on global health and attract new scientists and others involved in similar activities to the state.

"The goal is to make the Triangle the place to be for global health," Meerson said.

According to the report, the Triangle is already a major center for global health.

Nonprofit organizations, in particular, play a major role. Along with charities and research institutions, they comprised 3,400 jobs, $267 million in wages and more than $1 billion in total business activity. One of the largest contributors is RTI, which, in 2007, received more than $216 million in grants for ongoing projects related to women's reproductive health issues, neglected tropical diseases and malaria eradication.

The local universities also contribute significantly to global health, with nearly $51 million in total business activity in 2007. Duke and UNC Chapel Hill account for roughly 90 percent of this sector's total impact on global health.

Stephen Morrison, the director of the newly created Global Health Policy Center at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told the forum the Research Triangle is "helping forge the new way forward in global health."

The center, he said, is looking to places like RTP for "concrete suggestions over the next 15 years to help set the national compass for efforts on global health."