AFRO-NETS> Questionnaire - Health Research Capability Improvement

["Sacha P. Sidjanski" <sidjanskis@who.ch>]

Questionnaire - Health Research Capability Improvement
------------------------------------------------------

Dear colleagues,

The World Health Organization has been approached by the donor commu-
nity to act as a scientific advisor in an effort to develop a process 
for a possible new research awards scheme focusing on health research 
capability improvement in developing countries (provisionally called 
REACH). The main features of this proposed scheme are as follows:

* The nature, objectives, process and mechanisms for the awards
  scheme will be developed by researchers from developing countries
  themselves, through a series of regional consultations in the coming
  months.

* It is envisaged that the administration and control of the scheme
  will also be under the control of developing country researchers.

* The scheme is not restricted to any particular area of health re-
  search.

You are cordially invited to participate in the development of this 
process and we seek your assistance in completing the attached ques-
tionnaire. This short questionnaire is not a comprehensive attempt to 
assess capacity building but addresses what we feel are the larger 
issues. We would be grateful if you could take the time to complete 
this short questionnaire and send it back before the end of February 
2000.

Please do not hesitate to disseminate the questionnaire to individual 
researchers and institutions you feel could make a useful contribu-
tion to this brief survey.

If you have any suggestion, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Thank you very much for your co-operation on this matter.

Sincerely,

Sacha P. Sidjanski, Ph.D.
Research Policy and Cooperation
World Health Organization
Avenue Appia
1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland
Tel: +41-22-791-2518
Fax: +41-22-791-4169
mailto:sidjanskis@who.ch

--
When multiple choices are given as answers, please indicate what you 
feel is the order of importance, with 1 being the most important.

1. In the context of your own country, what should be the objective
   of REACH (health research capability improvement in developing
   countries)?

.. Postgraduate education and training
.. Funding of research projects
.. Better research policy (e.g. research management, linking re-
   searchers with policymakers)
.. Strengthening capacity in the research process itself (e.g. grant
   writing, study design, research methodology, communication of re-
   search, etc.)

2. What type of activities should REACH focus on in order to make a
   sustainable impact on health research capacity building?

.. Prizes/awards for lifetime achievements in health research
.. Postgraduate fellowships
.. Training courses in specific areas of research (including policy)
.. Internships/attachments to overseas institutions
.. Research funding for mid-career researchers
.. Research funding for younger scientists (at postdoctoral level)
.. Promoting the formation of regional research networks

3. Who should be the 'targets' of REACH activities?

.. Individual researchers with potential
.. Institutions
.. Research managers
.. Policymakers
.. National and regional networks of researchers

4. In case of funding of research projects, what should funds be
   spent on primarily?

.. Salary supplementation
.. Technical assistance
.. Reagents and consumables
.. Equipment
.. Computers and internet access
.. Travel to conferences

5. What would be the optimal mechanism for administering REACH in a
   an efficient, flexible and transparent manner?

.. Entrusting funds to the national health research council or other
   government or national body/organization
.. Developing a regional mechanism for administration (e.g. a re-
   gional secretariat)
.. WHO as Coordinator with decision making in the hands of a Govern-
   ing Council of developing country researchers

6. Does your country have a national health/medical research coun-
   cil? Do you feel the council is doing a good job in identifying
   health research priorities?




7. Is there good data available on health research capacity in your
   country in the various areas?. Which organisation maintains this
   database?




8. What in your opinion are the main impediments/constraints in de-
   velopment of health research capacity in developing countries?




9. What would be the best strategy to overcome these constraints and
   how can REACH address this problem?




10. What in your opinion are the 4-5 most important selection crite-
    ria for prizes/awards and for funding of research projects?




11. Which areas of health research should REACH target (e.g. biomedi-
    cal/clinical, epidemiological/population, health systems/socio-
    economic, research policy)?




12. Other comments and suggestions? 




Thank you very much for your co-operation. Replies will be kept con-
fidential.

Your name:
Affiliation:
Academic background/research interest:
E-mail:
Tel No:
Fax No:
Are you willing to participate in the further development of this 
process? Yes / No

Please return the completed questionnaire by e-mail to:
<sidjanskis@who.ch>

or fax to: 
+41-22-791-4169 
at your earliest convenience.

--
Send mail for the `AFRO-NETS' conference to `afro-nets@usa.healthnet.org'.
Mail administrative requests to `majordomo@usa.healthnet.org'.
For additional assistance, send mail to:  `owner-afro-nets@usa.healthnet.org'.