Bridging the worlds of research and health policy
The third Norwegian conference for global health and vaccination research was held in Bergen on 30-31 October. The main focus of the first day was on implementation research, with HIV and TB research on day two of the conference.
Implementation research has increasingly become a buzz-word in global health circles. This type of research involves various academic disciplines and uses different types of methods. The aim is to assess (in this case) health programmes in terms of how well they are being run and whether they are achieving what they set out to do.
Feedback from this type of research - particularly if it takes place "in real time"- can really make a difference in improving how a health programme functions. It is therefore not surprising that the organizers chose to take up this topical theme.
Speakers on the first day talked on diverse themes and covered several continents between them. The challenges of integrating large, so-called "vertical" or top-down, initiatives into more primary care focused health were discussed by Kristian Heggenhougen from the Universities of Boston and Bergen.
Turning research into policy
Tore Godal, Special Adviser to the Prime Minister of Norway, urged researchers to work more closely with health policymakers. Godal suggested that this cooperation is necessary to make the leap from generating evidence that actually influences policy which, in turn, results in actions that saves lives.
The Indian Ministry for Science and Biotechnology jointly funds a programme for vaccine research together with the Research Council of Norway. Dr M.K. Bhan, a top-level representative of the Ministry, was in Bergen to discuss the multiple issues faced by developing countries who are striving to achieve the millennium development goals.
The Indian National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) is a very ambitious initiative launched by the Government of India in 2005 to improve the health of the rural poor. Whilst discussing the various challenges and successes faced by the NRHM, Dr Bhan reiterated the importance of establishing international research networks that can evaluate the effects and quality of new and existing health programmes.
HIV and TB: still a way to go
The second day of the conference focused on HIV and TB research. The epidemiologist James Chin presented his occasionally controversial take on the AIDS epidemic, sparking some heated discussion in the auditorium. The message was clear, however, that whilst the epidemic may have peaked there is still a long way to go, both in terms of how to reach high risk populations and also how to effectively prevent HIV infection.
The focus of the final plenary session was the need for research capacity building and establishing North-South partnerships. Without the ability to carry out critical and relevant research at a country level, health systems in low and middle-income countries are automatically at a disadvantage. Norway already has two successful models for research capacity building in the South (NOMA and NUFU programmes) that can be seen as example for other donor countries interested in strengthening research systems in the South.
After an intense two days, the conference, whose attendance in three years has tripled, confirmed that it has established itself as a valuable and unique platform for information-sharing, discussion and networking, reflecting the growing interest in global health research within the Norwegian research community and other stakeholders.
The conference organizers were the Norwegian Research Council, the Norwegian Centre for International Cooperation in Higher Education (SIU), the Norwegian Forum for Global Health Research and the Norwegian Directorate of Health. Norad contributes through its participation on the GLOBVAC Board in the Norwegian Research Council.