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
PREPARATORY PROCESS
The preparatory process includes the following elements: agreement on the title, sub-title, date, duration and format of the conference; completion of the regional survey on Health research, information, knowledge systems and the Regional Report that will be informed by the survey; pre-conference consultations; drafting the Algiers 2008 Declaration; finalising the conference programme; and logistics.
The Steering Committee has agreed on the title of the conference to be ‘The 2008 Algiers Ministerial Conference on Research for Health in the African Region’. The Secretariat proposes ‘Narrowing the Knowledge Gap to Improve Africa’s Health’ as the theme of the Conference.
The date of the Conference has been set for June 23 – 26, 2008. The first three days of he conference will be devoted to technical discussion and the final day reserved for ministerial deliberations. The technical discussions will focus on national health research, information and knowledge systems and will also finalize the draft ministerial declaration (Algiers’ declaration) for adoption by the ministers.
The main opening ceremony would be on Thursday (June 26, 2008) morning. Please see spreadsheet on next page, for the rest of the proposed conference format. The proposal is to end the conference with finalizing the Algiers Declaration.
It is assumed that about 500 people will attend the conference. Algiers has state of the art conference facilities and high-quality hotels that can cater to conference participants. The Palais des Nations ( Club des Pins, west of Algiers ) will host this conference. All the places for the conference will be filled by invitations to be issued either by the Algerian Government or by the Secretariat (WHO-AFRO).
The rationale for the above proposal is broadly as follows :
Health ministers, Education, Science and technology, and other sector ministries and their delegations will be 128 in all.
Another 100 seats will be reserved for representatives of research and academic institutions from English, French and Portuguese speaking African countries and from elsewhere;
African and international NGOs and Foundations, multilateral and bilateral organizations involved in either promoting or funding health research, information and knowledge management will also be invited (45 seats);
100 seats will be reserved for national and international press;
The Steering Committee, through the Secretariat, and the Algerian Organizing Committee will also invite a total of 129 high-ranking figures.
A region-wide survey of national health research and information systems (their stewardship role, financing, resources, and use of health research in countries) and knowledge systems (how knowledge is captured, disseminated, shared, translated and put to use in countries) is currently ongoing.
A Regional Report entitled ‘Narrowing the Knowledge Gap to Improve Africa’s Health’ is being prepared by the Secretariat. The Report will describe the current situation of health information, research and knowledge systems, including success stories but also analyses the challenges and opportunities, and will recommend policy options and priority action plans. The total number of pages will be approximately 150 (printed/typeset) pages, with the three chapters (on research, information and knowledge systems) covering approximately 40 pages each. Each chapter will have several boxes and illustrations. The text will be in an accessible style making full use of statistics, facts, and figures. As much as possible, results from ongoing regional surveys of health information, research and knowledge systems will be.