Health research institutional mapping: an Eastern Mediterranean Regional perspective

Abstract

IntroductionHealth research is an integral component in developing health systems, understanding the roots and consequences of poor health, as well as anticipating and mitigating the effects of various factors on health. Promoting and fostering an environment conducive for health research is mandatory for planning, designing and implementing research and for sharing, using and translating its findings into evidence-informed health policies and cost-effective interventions (1).Mapping studies have been attempted in Africa (2), Canada (3), Europe (4), Latin America and the Caribbean (5). Recent studies in the World Health Organization (WHO) Eastern Mediterranean Region have revealed that the performance of health systems research is weak across all sectors, including governance, finance, workforce, medical and other technology, health information and service delivery. Such studies have referred to critical deficits in stewardship and translation of research into policy and practice, and often absence of an identified research agenda based on emerging priorities (6-8). It should be emphasized that there were prior attempts for health research mapping in the Region, but such studies were not comprehensive and only involved some member states (9-11), or were of institutional (rather than national) scope (10). Thus, to plan effectively for supporting health research to address current priorities and challenges in the Region, comprehensive mapping was deemed essential.This mapping study aimed to review the scope of existing health research in the Region and identify the challenges that need to be addressed to promote health research further. More specifically, the study aimed to synthesize prior mapping attempts for health research in the Region; to provide a rationale for carrying out comprehensive situation analysis of the range of health research institutions; and to identify possible gaps in the research cycle (research question, objectives, methods, data management, report writing and knowledge translation). MethodsThe study followed a cross-sectional approach over 2 phases: the first was to synthesize prior attempts for mapping health research in the Eastern Mediterranean Region; and the second was to conduct a mapping survey of health research institutions in the Region. Synthesis of prior mapping exercises in the RegionFor synthesis of prior attempts, a literature search was carried out to identify prior mapping attempts for Abstract Background: Research-conducive environments are mandatory for planning, implementing and translating research findings into evidence-informed health policies. Aim: This study aimed at comprehensive situation analysis of health research institutions in the Region. Methods: We collected data on: institutional characteristics, research scope, capacity building, ethics, governance and resources. Results: We contacted 575 institutions, of which, 223 (38.8%) responded, indicating that they conducted population research (82%). Reported studies were mostly in medicine, public health and ep...

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