Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2016 Jul 22;14(1):53.
doi: 10.1186/s12961-016-0121-4.

Developing the African national health research systems barometer

Joses Muthuri Kirigia  1 , Martin Okechukwu Ota  2 , Flavia Senkubuge  3 , Charles Shey Wiysonge  4 , Bongani M Mayosi  5
Affiliations

Developing the African national health research systems barometer

Joses Muthuri Kirigia et al. Health Res Policy Syst. .

Abstract

Background: A functional national health research system (NHRS) is crucial in strengthening a country's health system to promote, restore and maintain the health status of its population. Progress towards the goal of universal health coverage in the post-2015 sustainable development agenda will be difficult for African countries without strengthening of their NHRS to yield the required evidence for decision-making. This study aims to develop a barometer to facilitate monitoring of the development and performance of NHRSs in the African Region of WHO.

Methods: The African national health research systems barometer algorithm was developed in response to a recommendation of the African Advisory Committee for Health Research and Development of WHO. Survey data collected from all the 47 Member States in the WHO African Region using a questionnaire were entered into an Excel spreadsheet and analysed. The barometer scores for each country were calculated and the performance interpreted according to a set of values ranging from 0% to 100%.

Results: The overall NHRS barometer score for the African Region was 42%, which is below the average of 50%. Among the 47 countries, the average NHRS performance was less than 20% in 10 countries, 20-40% in 11 countries, 41-60% in 16 countries, 61-80% in nine countries, and over 80% in one country. The performance of NHRSs in 30 (64%) countries was below 50%.

Conclusion: An African NHRS barometer with four functions and 17 sub-functions was developed to identify the gaps in and facilitate monitoring of NHRS development and performance. The NHRS scores for the individual sub-functions can guide policymakers to locate sources of poor performance and to design interventions to address them.

Keywords: National health research systems performance; Research coordination; Research financing; Research for health governance; Research production and utilization.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. World Health Organization . World Health Statistics 2015. Geneva: WHO; 2015.
    1. World Health Organization . The World Health Report 2013 – Research for Universal Health Coverage. Geneva: WHO; 2013.
    1. WHO Regional Office for Africa . Report of the 28th session of the African Advisory Committee on Health Research and Development (AACHRD) Brazzaville: WHO/AFRO; 2014.
    1. Pang T, Sadana R, Hanney S, Bhutta ZA, Hyder AA, Simon J. Knowledge for better health – a conceptual framework and foundation for health research systems. Bull World Health Organ. 2003;81(11):815–20. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Senkubuge F, Mayosi BM. The state of the national health research system in South Africa. In: Padarath A, English R, editors. South African Health Review 2012/13. Durban: Health Systems Trust; 2013. pp. 141–50.