The European Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP) is fashioning out a technical barometer outline to monitor and evaluate the implementation of research systems under its national health research systems (NHRS) in participating states, in Africa.
The barometer will score individual member states performance in its approaches to delivering on its research mandate in tandem with the Africa Union-Centre for Disease Control (AU-CDC) protocols.
Professor Leonardo Santos Simao, EDCTP High Representative for Africa, made this known in an interview with the Ghana News Agency at its recent Kick-off meeting in Accra. The outcome of this initiative would be presented at the side event during 68th session of the WHO-AFRO Regional Committee meeting in Dakar, in August, this year, which is a high-level meeting of EDCTP participating states and complementary strategic partners to advance health research in Africa.
Prof Simao said there are challenges but the AU-CDC is fast changing the narrative by giving the continent an instrument to better manage and monitor research for health (R4H) and its progress.
He said evidence is urgently needed to guide African countries in their quest for universal health coverage in the context of the unfinished health MDG agenda and the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals.
"We seek to score the weaknesses in NHRS indices in the Region identified as lacking R4H human resources, government spending on R4H, publications in peer-reviewed journals, and availability of institutions conducting health research.
“Generation of appropriate home-grown evidence calls for the existence of effectively performing NHRSs.” Dr Owen Kaluwa, WHO country Representative for Ghana said the Research for Health: A strategy for the African Region, 2016-2025, provides strategic direction to strengthening research capacity in WHO-AFRO, which highlights the five objectives to take into consideration in strengthening NHRS.
These Dr Kaluwa said includes, establishing effective research for health governance, mechanisms for tracking health research investments, sustainable R4H (research for health) financing, strengthening production and use of research to enhance performance of health systems and improve, build and sustain human, physical and institutional capacities on R4H.