Geneva, 22/06/2000 (Agence Europe) - After a meeting at the headquarters of the World Health Organisation (WHO) in Geneva, WHO Secretary General Ms Gro Harlem Brundtland and European Commissioner Philippe Busquin stressed, in a joint statement, the need to step up research on three main transmissible diseases: AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. Given the particularly high incidence of these diseases in the developing world, they stress the need to develop research on the link between disease and poverty and to improve access to health care and medicine. The Commission and the WHO also consider it vital to develop research partnerships with developing countries in order to increase the research capacities in these countries.