[Ip-health] Developing countries unite on health research (report on Bamako)

[Judit Rius Sanjuan]

http://www.monitor.co.ug/artman/publish/sun_business/Developing_countries_u=
nite_on_health_research_75417.shtml

Developing countries unite on health research
Uganda Monitor

Ministers from across the developing world say they want to take
control of their own health research agendas as part of a wish list
presented at the Global Ministerial Forum on Research for Health on
Wednesday.

Launching the much-awaited =91Call to Action=92 at the closing event of
the Forum they said they want to prioritise policies dealing with
research for health and improve coordination between ministries so
that their respective countries can have more ownership of research.

The =91Bamako Call to Action=92 is the fruit of four years of regional
meetings, questionnaires, forum discussions, a survey of key
stakeholders and, this week, the Forum, involving three days of
ministerial discussions and parallel sessions. Held in Bamako, Mali,
it was attended by ministers and their representatives from 69
countries.

In their communiqu=E9 ministers urged funding agencies to coordinate
their own priorities with those of developing countries and better
match their research agendas with those of other agencies.

They said that governments should allocate two per cent of their
health ministry budgets to research, and improve capacity at every
stage of the research system =97 from identifying national research
priorities to acting upon research and carrying out assessments of
that implementation.

To encourage grassroots input, civil society and community
organisations should be included in the entire research process.

Other major goals include a call for engagement with the private
sector and the promotion of =91eHealth=92. And there are specific goals
such as the implementation of the recommendations of the WHO
Commission on the Social Determinants of Health and the possible
creation of a =93World Day for Research to Health=94 each year.

The WHO said the Forum was of major importance because it was the
first such gathering to consider how different kinds of research =96
=93not only health but also higher education, environment, security and
socio-economic research=94 =96 can be harnessed to improve health. It was
also significant because it enabled interaction between policymakers,
research leaders and civil society representatives.

The WHO said that the Call to Action would be =93used as a blueprint for
research development approaches=94.
Ok Pannenborg, a senior health advisor at the World Bank, said: =93The
World Bank Group is extremely happy with the outcome, with its focus
on research and innovation and research for health. This call will
play a huge role in World Bank workings in the next four years=94.

But critics said several serious gaps remain.
=93There are no mechanisms in the call,=94 said Damson Kathyola, director
of research at the Malawian Ministry of Health. =93The WHO should [now]
create innovation mechanisms for the monitoring and evaluation of the
implementation of the strategies in the call.

=93We know that we need research to improve the health situation of our
people in our countries. But there is a disconnect between policy and
the implementers. Who=92s going to implement this?=94

Other delegates said the document was too similar to the Call for
Action produced at the meeting=92s predecessor =97 the Global Ministerial
Summit on Health Research in Mexico in 2004.
The communiqu=E9 will be submitted to the 2009 World Health Assembly and
the UNESCO General Conference.

www.scidev.net