2008 Algiers Ministerial Conference on Research for Health in the African Region
Narrowing the Knowledge Gap
for Africa's Health
Algiers,
June
23–26, 2008
STEERING COMMITTEE
BACKGROUND
1. Global advances in scientific knowledge have led to the availability of preventive, diagnostic and therapeutic tools devised for the promotion, protection and restoration of health. However, the African Region has yet to fully access and utilize the benefits of this progress in science and technology. Thus, efforts at improving knowledge should be given the highest priority.
2. Health research can play an important role in improving health and health equity by developing and evaluating health interventions, empowering people to alter unhealthy behaviors, and informing decision making in health. It is now widely recognized that research is fundamentally important for achieving the internationally agreed health-related development goals, including those contained in the NEPAD and the United Nations Millennium Declaration.
3. Health research has been on the political agenda since 1990, when the Commission on Health Research and Development proposed that countries should allocate at least 2% of national health expenditure and 5% of health project assistance to health research. In 2000, the First International Conference on Health Research for Development was organized in Bangkok, Thailand. In 2004, a second conference was held in Mexico. On this occasion, the Ministers of Health who attended issued a statement calling on national governments to commit to fund the necessary health research to ensure vibrant health systems and reduce inequity and social injustice.
4. The 56th Session of the WHO Regional Committee for Africa has selected Mali to host the 2008 Global Ministerial Forum on Research for Health. At the global level, a group has been set up by WHO headquarters to work on the preparation of the 2008 conference. Its members include representatives from the Council on Health Research for Development (COHRED), Global Forum for Health Research (GFHR), World Bank, UNESCO and WHO focal points for Evidence and Information for Policy, Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases, and Research Policy and Cooperation.
5. High-level ministerial meetings on health research for disease control and development have also been held in 2006 in Abuja (March) and in Accra (June). Communiqués from the two meetings discussed the critical issues that limit the translation of research to health policy and systems development. The meetings have also identified strategies for the use of health research for disease control and the improvement of public health in countries with high burdens of disease.
6. The 56th Session of the Regional Committee has also adopted a health research agenda (AFR/RC56/14) and strategic orientation for knowledge management in the African Region (AFR/RC56/16). Both envisage establishment of national mechanisms for a comprehensive baseline assessment of country knowledge landscapes and to prepare national strategic directions and ensuring that they are integrated as a priority into national health policies and plans.
7. The Regional Committee has also confirmed Algeria to host the preparatory ministerial meeting to the 2008 Global Conference. The Regional Committee has noted that it is important that ministers of health, education, science, technology and other relevant sectors be part of the preparatory meeting. It has also tasked WHO to prepare a comprehensive regional report by collecting core information and indicators on the current status of health research and knowledge systems in the African Region. The report is expected to be presented at the 2008 Algiers Conference and serve as a basis for ministerial communiqués (“One African Voice”) for submission to the Global Conference in Bamako in November 2008 as Algiers’ declaration.
8. The Regional Committee appointed the following Member States as the steering committee to oversee the preparation of the Algeria meeting: Algeria, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, and Senegal. The Steering Committee in its first meeting of May 2007 decided to include Mali as a member of the Steering Committee because of the potentially important role of Mali as a host of Bamako 2008. It also discussed and endorsed its term of reference.
9. The Steering Committee recognized WHO – AFRO as its Secretariat and requested it to prepare a draft of its working document that describes the various aspects of the process leading to the Algiers 2008. This draft document which is submitted for the consideration of the Steering Committee briefly describes the proposed objectives, desired outcomes, the organizational processes and financial implications of the preparations of the 2008 Algiers Ministerial Conference on Research for Health in the African Region.