The Global Forum for Health Research and The Lancet are inviting young professionals under 30 years old, working in or interested in the broad spectrum of health research for development, to enter their essay competition. The competition is seeking entries of 1,500 words or less, written in English, French, or Spanish, on the theme "Innovating for the health of all". It is being held in conjunction with Forum 2009, the annual meeting of the Global Forum that takes place in Havana, Cuba, from November 16 to 20 2009. The winning essays will be published in The Lancet, and their authors will be invited to attend, expenses paid.

Rules and guidelines:

• Each author may submit one essay only.
• Essays may be submitted in English or French and should be 1,500 words maximum.
• Essays must be based on the author’s own ideas and not be derived from another source. Essays must not have been previously published.
• Entries are individual (i.e., the work of a single author). They should include original, even provocative ideas and not be technical or academic texts: tables, charts and figures are probably not necessary; references should be limited. Authors are free to be idealistic, passionate, to take established practices to task, albeit in a constructive fashion. Within the context of research for health, the theme allows authors to include any aspect that interests them particularly - for example, extreme weather, natural disasters, fuels and energy, transport, water management, vectors, food production, demographics, urban planning, security.

Click here to view rules and recommendations and link to essay competition information in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin Chinese, and French.

Global Forum for Health Research website accessed on March 13 2009.