Table 1

What the developed world critical care community can contribute

Acknowledgment of global disparities in critical illness.

Contact and collaborate with colleagues in developing countries by sponsoring mutual knowledge transfer programs, including mutual travel exchanges of qualified intensivists and trainees.

Donate time, knowledge, and resources to organizations already doing work in the developing world.

Advocate for less expensive medications, including newer generation antibiotics, analgesia, and sedation as well as less expensive medications to prevention critical illness such as vaccination and antiretrovirals.

Mandate our professional societies and funding agencies to consider a global perspective in research and education support and create a section within medical professional society task forces on global disparity with specific aims of reducing disparities through education, research, and mutual knowledge transfer.

Sponsor attendance of acute care professionals to an upcoming conference or your own intensive care unit.

Fowler et al. Critical Care 2008 12:225   doi:10.1186/cc6984