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
. 2018 Mar 5;15(1):39.
doi: 10.1186/s12978-018-0484-9.

Research gaps and emerging priorities in sexual and reproductive health in Africa and the eastern Mediterranean regions

Moazzam Ali  1 , Madeline Farron  2 , Leopold Ouedraogo  3 , Ramez Khairi Mahaini  4 , Kelsey Miller  2 , Rita Kabra  2
Affiliations

Research gaps and emerging priorities in sexual and reproductive health in Africa and the eastern Mediterranean regions

Moazzam Ali et al. Reprod Health. .

Abstract

Background: In-country research capacity is key to creating improvements in local implementation of health programs and can help prioritize health issues in a landscape of limited funding. Research prioritization has shown to be particularly useful to help answer strategic and programmatic issues in health care, including sexual and reproductive health (SRH). The purpose of this paper is to present the results of a priority setting exercise that brought together researchers and program managers from the WHO Africa and Eastern Mediterranean regions to identify key SRH issues.

Methods: In June 2015, researchers and program managers from the WHO Africa and Eastern Mediterranean regions met for a three-day meeting to discuss strategies to strengthen research capacity in the regions. A prioritization exercise was carried out to identify key priority areas for research in SRH. The process included five criteria: answerability, effectiveness, deliverability and acceptability, potential impact of the intervention/program to improve reproductive, maternal and newborn health substantially, and equity.

Results: The six main priorities identified include: creation and investment in multipurpose prevention technologies, addressing adolescent violence and early pregnancy (especially in the context of early marriage), improved maternal and newborn emergency care, increased evaluation and improvement of adolescent health interventions including contraception, further focus on family planning uptake and barriers, and improving care for mothers and children during childbirth.

Conclusion: The setting of priorities is the first step in a dynamic process to identify where research funding should be focused to maximize health benefits. The key elements identified in this exercise provides guidance for decision makers to focus action on identified research priorities and goals. Prioritization and identifying/acting on research gaps can have great impact across multiple sectors in the regions for improved reproductive, maternal and children health.

Keywords: Adolescent; Africa; Contraception; Eastern Mediterranean; Maternal health; Research priority.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

Approval were obtained from the meeting participants to publish the results of the discussions and collective agreements on the research priorities in Africa and Eastern Mediterranean regions.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Sewankambo N, Tumwine JK, Tomson G, Obua C, Bwanga F, Waiswa P, et al. Enabling dynamic partnerships through joint degrees between low- and high-income countries for capacity development in global health research: experience from the Karolinska Institutet/Makerere University partnership. PLoS Med. 2015;12(2):e1001784. doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1001784. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Beran D, Byass P, Gbakima A, Kahn K, Sankoh O, Tollman S, et al. Research capacity building-obligations for global health partners. Lancet Glob Health. 2017;5(6):e567–e5e8. doi: 10.1016/S2214-109X(17)30180-8. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Davies J, Mullan Z. Research capacity in Africa--will the sun rise again? Lancet Glob Health. 2016;4(5):e287. doi: 10.1016/S2214-109X(16)30046-8. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Whitworth J, Sewankambo NK, Snewin VA. Improving implementation: building research capacity in maternal, neonatal, and child health in Africa. PLoS Med. 2010;7(7):e1000299. doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1000299. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Yvo Nuyens. Setting priorities for health research: lessons from low- and middle-income countries. Bull World Health Organ. 2007;85(4):319–21. 10.2471/BLT.06.032375. - PMC - PubMed