U travnju ove godine, Nature je imao malo istra¾ivanje o cijenama laboratorijskog materijala (Nature 428:453) u raznim zemljama svijeta, sa zakljuèkom: Scientists in these poorer countries have to pay up to 70% more than their wealthier colleagues for identical supplies. Pod siroma¹nijm zemljama se misli na Poljsku ili Brazil, a pod opremom je veæinom obuhvaæen materijal za rad u molekularnoj biologiji.

Nakon dva mjeseca, iza¹ao je i komentar (Nature 429:601) kojeg potpisuju Stipan Jonjiæ i Luka Traven sa Sveuèili¹ta u Rijeci. Dok æe ulaskom u EU, poljski znanstvenici moæi kupovati po istim cijenama kao i zapadni kolege, u Hrvatskoj jo¹ to nije sluèaj. Autori takoðer zakljuèuju: For this reason, it is no exaggeration to say that the only way a research group from one of Europe's poorer nations can publish its work in prestigious journals is to collaborate with Western researchers, who benefit from higher funding and lower costs of materials.

Nature 429, 601 (10 June 2004); doi:10.1038/429601a 
 
Small countries receive even less of a fair deal

Sir – We welcome your Editorial "A fair deal for all" accompanying the survey reported in "High prices of supplies drain cash from poorer nations' labs"(Nature 428, 451 and 453; 2004).

These address a topic of great importance to scientific researchers in less developed countries. Recognizing this problem is the first step towards finding and implementing some solutions.

Your survey compared the costs of laboratory equipment and materials in four countries — Germany, Poland, the United States and Brazil — and revealed some differences between the poorer and wealthier nations. Poland is, however, the largest market in Eastern Europe; in smaller markets, such as Croatia, the situation can be even worse for scientists.

When prices of laboratory equipment and materials in Croatia are compared with those in wealthier states, the differences turn out to be still more pronounced. There are, for sure, a few items that are exceptions to this general rule, but in our experience most lab equipment and materials show similar, if not bigger, price differences.

For example: in Croatia, 500 g albumin, bovine fraction V protease-free, costs approximately 1,458 (US$1,796) compared with the manufacturer's price of 992 (using an exchange rate of 7.5 kuna to the euro and excluding value-added tax). Similarly, 0.5 ml mouse monoclonal anti-fish CYP1A peptide costs about 1,112 in Croatia, compared with the producer's price of 480.

These represent the best prices that we have found for these supplies.

One should also consider the low levels of research funding in poorer countries. In Croatia, the government's expenditure on research grants is many times lower than in more affluent states.

For this reason, it is no exaggeration to say that the only way a research group from one of Europe's poorer nations can publish its work in prestigious journals is to collaborate with Western researchers, who benefit from higher funding and lower costs of materials.

In Croatia, the prices of laboratory equipment and materials could be controlled by the state to prevent local distributors selling products at inflated prices. In addition, the producers themselves could intervene and encourage local distributors to sell at the manufacturer's price.

This would help eastern European researchers get better value for their money, making the scientific game a little more just.

Stipan Jonjic
Department of Histology and Embryology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Rijeka, Brace Branchetta 20a, 51000 Rijeka, Croatia

Luka Traven
Department of Environmental Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Rijeka, Brace Branchetta 20a, 51000 Rijeka, Croatia