AFRO-NETS> SHARED as a tool for Networking/Partnerships in Health and Development

[Steven Chandiwana <chandiwana@blair.co.zw>]

SHARED as a tool for Networking/Partnerships in Health and Development
----------------------------------------------------------------------

At 03:26 AM 1/4/02 -0500, Keerti Bhusan Pradhan wrote:

> Dear All,
> I am interested to know about Networking/Partnerships in Health and
> Development.
> Please share your ideas and resources.


Dear Colleagues,

I am pleased to introduce to you the SHARED Network <www.shared.de> 
Coordinator - Dr Agnes Soares <Soares@nwo.nl> which is an interna-
tional initiative that began in 1996 to foster networking / partner-
ships in health research for development. I am currently the SHARED 
Coordinator for Africa: Steven Chandiwana <chandiwana@blair.co.zw> or 
<shared@ecoweb.co.zw>. The contacts for regional networks are as fol-
lows: 
Asia Regional Co-ordinator: 
Bing Alano <balano@gate.pids.gov.ph>

Latin America and Caribbean Co-ordinator:
Abel L. Packer <abel@brm.bireme.br>

The present application of SHARED is derived from an EC concerted ac-
tion called Scientists for Health And REsearch for Development 
(SHARED) which pioneered a web-based knowledge management approach, 
designed to foster networking amongst health scientists and profes-
sionals in developing and developed regions. The basis for this web-
based system is the so-called Information Mediation. In this concept, 
an extremely user-friendly web interface facilitates efficient commu-
nication between people and organisations, based on high quality in-
formation contained in underlying or connected databases.

A major medium term objective of SHARED is to link scientific activi-
ties (research and international networking) with implementation ac-
tivities (health intervention projects, national health information 
systems and health care systems), in order to contribute to the much 
needed closure of the historical gap between science and application. 
This will not only vastly increase the relevance of scientific knowl-
edge for society, but also strengthen the role of science as an im-
portant element for socio-economic development.

One of the major questions asked within research circles is "Who is 
doing What, Where?" It is often that scientists in many countries and 
in some cases many institutions are not aware of what research their 
colleagues in other institutions or departments are working on. This 
often leads to duplication of research work thus leading to ineffec-
tive utilisation of the scarce research funds available. The result-
ing lack of collaboration among the institutions based on the lack of 
information on what the other institutions are working on cannot be 
overemphasised.

During the past year the SHARED initiative was implemented in Zim-
babwe to evaluate the usability of such a system in a developing 
country. The Zimbabwe SHARED database now contains more than 1,200 
projects of research work going in the country and is being utilised 
by many institutions both within and outside the country. Some insti-
tutions are also utilising the system to profile and archive their 
research work (e.g. Blair Research Institute <www.shared.de/blair>). 
The system can also be utilised to profile research work being car-
ried out on some topical issues (e.g. HIV/AIDS Research 
<http://www.shared.de/aids>).

The success of the project in Zimbabwe suggests that the SHARED sys-
tem can be utilised for sharing information on the various research 
work going in different African countries. Already a number of Afri-
can countries (Mozambique, South Africa, Uganda, Madagascar, Swazi-
land and Botswana) have shown an interest in the SHARED system and 
WHO AFRO has requested a prototype for the utilisation of the system 
to network malaria research within Southern Africa 
<http://www.shared.de/samc>.

I am happy to provide further details to those interested in adopting 
the SHARED system in organising and supporting networking/partnership 
for health research and development in their countries. Those in Af-
rica can also send enquiries directly to the 
Africa SHARED Office
mailto:shared@ecoweb.co.zw

Regards, 

Dr Steven Chandiwana
Director 
Blair Research Institute
Box CY 573, Causeway 
Harare, Zimbabwe 
Tel: +263-4-797-049, 703-525 
Fax: +263-4-253-979
mailto:chandiwana@blair.co.zw
or
mailto:igha@mweb.co.zw

--
To send a message to AFRO-NETS, write to: afro-nets@usa.healthnet.org
To subscribe or unsubscribe, write to: majordomo@usa.healthnet.org
in the body of the message type: subscribe afro-nets OR unsubscribe afro-nets
To contact a person, send a message to: owner-afro-nets@usa.healthnet.org
Information and archives: http://www.afronets.org