Conference on Research for Health in Africa

(PANA)--Ministers of Health or their deputies from 17 African nations are attending the one-day ministerial session of the conference on research for health in Africa, which got underway in Algiers Thursday.

Ministers in attendance included those from Cameroon, Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, Gabon, Gambia, Kenya, Mali, Mauritius, Uganda, Rwanda, Senegal, Zimbabwe and host Algeria.

Also in attendance at the meeting, organised by the World Health Organisation (WHO) Regional Office for Africa and Algeria, were the deputy Minister of Angola, Malawi, Mozambique and a representative of the Minister of Health from Mauritania.

The one-day meeting will be the highlight of the 23-26 June conference that has brought together 500 participants, including representatives of research institutes and universities within and outside Africa; NGOs and African and international foundations, multilateral and bilateral aid organisations and the international media.

The Ministers will deliberate on the work done by experts since Monday, when the conference formally opened at the international conference centre overlooking the Mediterranean sea in the Algerian capital.

At the end of their deliberations, they will adopt the "Algiers Declaration’’, which will be submitted to the Second Global Ministerial Forum on Health Research, scheduled to take place 17-19 November 2008 in Bamako, Mali.

In a speech at the opening, the WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr. Luis Sambo , described it as a ‘’historic meeting’’ which offers him a chance to address decision makers in academia, research institutes and others involved in research for health in Africa.

Dr. Sambo said the conference would also make it possible for Africa to speak with one voice at the world forum in Bamako.

He reiterated the importance of research to generate new knowledge and improve health systems, which will in turn improve the health of Africans.

Emphasizing the need to step up research for health, he said there was a wide gap between ‘’what we know and what we should know...and between knowledge and practice’’.

The main focus of the Algiers Conference is ‘’Renewing the commitment of countries to strengthen the generation of knowledge and narrow the knowledge gap to improve Africa’s health development and equity,’’ among others.

Dr. Sambo also decried the low ratio of 500 researchers to 1 million people in Africa, against that in developed countries which is 10-fold, and urge African countries to allocate 5% of external aid to projects and programmes aimed at strengthening research for health and 2% of national resources to health.

He pledged WHO’s assistance to African countries for the implementation of policies, strategies and plan of action through advocacy to mobilise resources from governments and their partners for health research and improved health systems.

In his opening address, President Abdelaziz Bouteflika said the conference should ‘’translate our determination to seek strategies to set up the mechanism for the development of research in health to deal with the many health problems in Africa.’’

In the speech, which was read on his behalf by his Adviser, Mr. Boughazi Mohammed Ali, the President also called for collaboration between Africa and its international partners so as to establish centres of excellence (for health research) in Africa.

He called for commitment at the ‘’higher level’’ within the African Union and assistance from the WHO to find solutions to Africa’s health problems.

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