Send to friend

Printer-friendly version

COHRED Research for Health Briefing 5 looks at the African Regional Health Report of the World Health Organization from a health research perspective. A synthesis of the key messages of the report and comment from a health research perspective.

The Health of the People: the African Regional Health Report of the World Health Organization is a landmark document in several respects. It is the first report of its kind that presents an African perspective on the continent’s health crises, bright spots, and proposals for action to improve the situation for the 738 million children, women and men living in countries that collectively make up the WHO AFRO region.

Two strong messages emerge from the report: First, that Africa can build on its recent progress only by strengthening its fragile health systems; and secondly, that these systems remain weak today due to a lack of adequate human and financial resources.v

The report’s analysis does not take the next step, to recognise that strong health research systems and stable human resources for health research (‘HR-HR’) are important drivers in realising African countries’ potential to better identify and solve their health problems.

By encouraging a focus on research as a core component of the health system, the WHO, development partners and global health initiatives can help countries improve their capacity to produce evidence that will raise the quality of their decisions on health matters and the management of their health systems.

All comments and suggestions are welcome, please contact

cohred@cohred.org with ‘COHRED Research for Health Briefing’ in the subject line