The agreement, contained in the 'Algiers Declaration' which was signed by 26 countries here on Thursday, was the highpoint of the minister's one-day session, which rounded off the 23-26 June African Ministerial Conference on Research for Health in Africa.
Specifically, the ministers agreed to allocate at least 2% of national health ex penditures and at least 5% of health external project and programme aid to research and research capacity building; develop or strengthen comprehensive national health research policies; create sub-regional centres of excellence to promote research and gene r ate evidence for better decisions and support the development of human resources for research .
They also agreed to create an enabling environment for research to thrive; support the translation of research results into policy and action through the establishment of appropriate mechanisms and structures; develop and strengthen the national health informatio n systems and strengthen national capacity in knowledge management.
The Ministers called on the World Health Organisation (WHO) to advocate for increased funding from governments and development partners; establish an African He a lth, Research, Information and Knowledge Systems Observatory (AHRO); increase the WHO health re search budget; support member states to build national health research systems, s upport the establishment of sub-region and regional centre of excellence in research fo r health.
To African researchers and research institutions, the ministers urged them to be come actively engaged with all stakeholders in setting research priorities; and to enhance the relevance of research to users, policy makers and communities by linking research activiti es to health challenges and priorities to bridge the know-how gap.
They also called upon international partners, including the private sector, civil society and regional economic communities (RECs), to support country policies and mechanisms to honour the 2005 Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness; and to promote South-South and North-Sou th cooperation, technology transfer and collaboration for health research.
Finally, they called on the African Union and the RECs to advocate for strengthening health research systems and to encourage regional cooperation.
Speaking on behalf of the delegations, Senegalese Health Minister, Dr. Safiatou Thiam Sy, described the 'Algiers Declaration' as a ''reflection of our collective commitment to research for health'', adding that the outcome was a ''consensus which will allow the African region to stand as one during the world forum'' on research for health, scheduled for Bamako, Mali, in November.
In a closing speech, the Algerian Minister of Health, Population and Hospital Reform, Dr. Said Barkat, said the declaration represented the commitment by Africa to shoulder the responsibility for tackling its health problems.
''We have come out with concrete proposals on the road to (the world forum in) Bamako. In other to succeed, it is necessary for us to mobilise our human resources and to channel our students from different disciplines to research areas on health,'' he said.
The minister added: ''Our efforts have crystallised into a common position to be expressed in Mali. We will spare no efforts to ensure its (Draft Declaration) success,''
The Algiers conference, which was jointly organised by the WHO Regional Office for Africa and the government of Algeria, focused mainly on renewing the commitment of countries to strengthen the generation of knowledge and narrow the knowledge gap to improve Africa's hea lth development and equity, as well as highlighting innovative approaches and su c cess stories in developing capacity for research, information and knowledge management in Africa, is part of the pre parations for the Second Global Forum on Health Research, scheduled for Bamako, Mali, in November 2008.
More than 500 delegates, include African ministers of health, education, science and technology; 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, attended the conference, one of the preparatory sessions for the world forum.
Algiers - 26/06/2008
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