Although global spending on health research currently exceeds US$ 60 billion, less than 10% of it addresses the diseases and conditions that account for 90% of the global disease burden.1 Many biomedical researchers in developing countries are also professionally isolated by difficulties in accessing, generating, synthesizing and disseminating information. We emphasize the interdependence of global health knowledge, and draw attention to inequities in the global flow of information that profoundly affect the evolution of the global knowledge base and its relevance to health priorities. Information and communication technologies have great potential to reduce these inequities, not only by disseminating information, but also by supporting such important activities as international co‐operation and Southern‐led development. We describe briefly some of the challenges, recent achievements, and priorities for the future.