Less than one-tenth of all population-based research into dementia has been directed towards the two-thirds or more of all people with dementia who live in developing parts of the world — thus, the name "10/66".

Part of the Alzheimer's Disease International Network, 10/66 is a group of researchers who encourage active collaboration between research groups in different developing countries and between developed and developing countries. The research projects have included pilot studies to establish a method for diagnosing dementia in populations with very little formal education; qualitative studies to understand the experience of people with dementia and their carers; intervention studies that investigate whether local community health workers can contribute to care by identifying people who need help; and population-based studies to quantify prevalence and incidence in developing countries.

The 10/66 Group is part of Alzheimer's Disease International and is coordinated through Prof. Martin Prince from the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College, London.

FOUR50 is building a network of experts, activists and enthusiasts committed to preventing the epidemic of chronic disease and raising awareness about its devastating consequences. It aims to do this by focusing on the 3 risk factors (poor diet, lack of physical activity, tobacco use) that lead to four chronic diseases (CVD, diabetes, chronic lung diseases and some cancers) contributing to more than 50% of deaths worldwide.

AORTIC aims to improve cancer research, control and prevention in Africa. The organisation runs research projects on cervical cancer screening, hosts biannual conferences and publishes a monthly newsletter, in English and French, with news and commentary on cancer-related activities around Africa as well as a list of upcoming events. AORTIC's website offers links to other organisations working on cancer in Africa, lists training opportunities for scientists and health workers, and provides free access to relevant training manuals, scientific articles, books and presentations.

This is a portal to the websites of associations that aim to advance our understanding of oncology and how to better treat patients with cancer, both in the developed and developing worlds.

Each partner association is represented in the portal with a website describing and providing information relating to the organisation, its structure, news, research projects, activities, membership, resource information, selected links, and so on.

Cancerworld also hosts the Cancer Media Service, operated by the European School of Oncology and aimed at journalists. The independent service aims to put cancer research into context, which it does by publishing well written and easy-to-read summaries of the latest cancer research. Perhaps even more useful is its list of resources for journalists that includes links to several medical dictionaries and cancer organisations worldwide.

The Global Forum for Health Research provides evidence, tools and discussion forums for decision-makers in research funding and policy to improve the health of the poor. Although it covers issues for both infectious and non-communicable diseases, the agency recognises that mental health problems are severely neglected in developing countries. As well as links to various publications and reports, the website also hosts RealHealthNews, which aims to share news on research and interventions that can improve the health of those in developing countries.

IASO is an umbrella organisation for 52 national obesity associations across 56 countries. Its mission statement is to "improve global health by promoting the understanding of obesity and weight-related diseases through scientific research and dialogue, whilst encouraging the development of effective policies for their prevention and management."

The organisation is strongly advocacy-based and publishes frequent statements aimed at policymakers on how to tackle obesity. The website also contains detailed data on the global prevalence of obesity. Since obese people are often at high risk for other diseases such as diabetes or cardiovascular disease, the website also outlines these risks, offering links to other relevant associations.

The INCTR is dedicated to helping build capacity for cancer treatment and research in countries in which such capacity is limited. The network, which has support from the US National Cancer Institute, aims to build capacity for cancer treatment and research in countries with limited resources through long-term collaborative projects coupled to training and educational programmes. It also seeks to promote international collaboration on cancer control between developed and developing countries. The INCTR is located at the Institut Pasteur in Brussels but also has branches in the US, France, Brazil, Egypt and Nepal and offices in the UK, India and Tanzania. The website contains details of the network's activities in various countries.

The centre is a WHO collaborating centre for research and training in the control of cardiovascular disease, and also prevention and rehabilitation for patients in the Eastern Mediterranean Region.

The centre strongly advocates evidence-based health policies as the only way to promote health. Its focus on prevention led to the Isfahan Health Heart Programme, a community programme to promote healthier lifestyles to prevent non-communicable diseases.

This philanthropic organisation works with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and other partners in the Americas to administer health-related grants and implement programmes that provide medical supplies and equipment. It aims to mobilise resources to meet health, education, and training priorities in the region, focusing on chronic disease prevention, healthy aging, immunisations, neglected tropical diseases and health education. The website provides information on projects, partnerships and 'success stories', as well as updates on related news and announcements, including events, grants and jobs.

IARC's mission is to undertake research on the causes of human cancer, the mechanisms of carcinogenesis, and to develop scientific strategies for cancer control. It develops strategies at a theoretical level, however, and does not get involved in direct implementation nor contribute to the formulation of policies or legislation. The agency also does not on the whole contribute to research in to cancer treatments.

The agency publishes several key publications on epidemiology (especially of the disease in developing countries), pathology and genetics. To encourage research, the agency offers several fellowships, scholarships and training courses.

The NCMHD Center of Excellence for Nutritional Genomics — a collaboration between five university departments, research institutes and hospitals — publishes news, information and commentary on research that cuts across nutrition, genomics, and health. It also provides a list of definitions, image library and links to relevant sites and users can sign-up to receive email alerts of the latest news in nutrigenomics.

The centre's research focuses on genomics, proteomics and bioinformatics to identify genes that might affect health risks from a poor diet. Its goal is to devise genome-based nutritional interventions to prevent or treat diseases such as asthma, obesity, and diabetes.

The WHO Global InfoBase has, for the first time, assembled in one place, country-level risk factor data stratified by age and sex, with complete source and survey information. The current version of the InfoBase contains over 130,000 data points from more than 2,800 sources. Currently the InfoBase contains reports on 180 out of 192 WHO Member States. A unique feature is that each record can be linked back to all its survey information, including the primary source.

The database is updated daily and provides users with comparable country-level mortality, mean systolic blood pressure, mean body mass index, and overweight/obesity data. A search function allows users to customise their data search based on specific criteria, and shows data in text tables and graphs.

The foundation's aim is to raise awareness of diabetes worldwide, with a special emphasis on developing countries. A key activity is funding projects (142 so far) that raise awareness, improve education and build capacity at local, regional and global levels. The website contains details of all ongoing projects, including details of the project budgets and individuals responsible for running them, the expected impacts and results so far. Importantly, the foundation prioritises monitoring and evaluation of its projects to learn key lessons for the future and minimise the risk of project failure.

As with any disease, and particularly those in developing countries, the health economics are important. The website has a useful tool for calculating the economic cost of diabetes in a particular country that allows the user to change variables such as population, prevalence and so on.

This section of the WHO's website includes factsheets on chronic diseases, details of the agency's relevant activities and programmes, and detailed technical information about action plan that the agency backs.

Also included are links to key reports on chronic diseases (detailed in the Reports section of Key Documents)