Article Text
PDF
Statistics from Altmetric.com
Summary box
There is progress in strengthening the national health research systems (NHRS) in the WHO African region, but persistent challenges include low government financing for health research, weak research coordination and enforcement of research laws and regulations, inadequate research infrastructure and lengthy ethical clearance processes.
There are regional and global opportunities that can be leveraged by African countries to strengthen their NHRS, but realising the full benefit calls for action at county level with reference to setting a clear strategic direction and creating an enabling environment.
Subregional/regional approaches to regulation of research, enhancing research capacity through sharing resources and expertise, sharing evidence or best practices in the form of an African Forum on Health Research, may offer additional benefit and stimulate the growth of an evidence-informed decision-making culture that is guided by locally generated solutions.
Background
As the global movement towards universal health coverage (UHC) gains momentum, countries in the WHO African Region will need to overcome several design and technical challenges within their health systems to achieve set targets. UHC is defined as ensuring that all people have access to needed health services of sufficient quality to be effective, while ensuring that the use of these services does not expose the user to financial hardship.1 The definition embodies several dimensions including ensuring that good quality services are available and accessible, the whole population is reached with the services they need, and no one faces financial hardships in seeking care.
Health systems must be strong to ensure attainment of the aspirations in the different dimensions. Health systems strengthening, and reforms are very challenging—both in terms of designing policies and programmes and effectively implementing them to achieve the desired impact. There is often a knowledge gap between ‘how to’ implement health systems changes and the technical assistance provided. Research evidence can provide …