Developing health systems research capacities through north-south partnership: An evaluation of collaboration with South Africa and Thailand

Abstract

Background: Over the past ten years, calls to strengthen health systems research capacities in low and middle income countries have increased. One mechanism for capacity development is the partnering of northern and southern institutions. However, detailed case-studies of north-south partnerships, at least in the domain of health systems research, remain limited.

Medical research in South Africa: a scientometric analysis of trends, patterns, productivity and partnership

“…Productivity is not the outcome of a single factor such as partnerships and is affected by several other determinants (Kundra and Kretschmer 1999). In a study of north-south partnership in health systems between South Africa, Thailand and the UK, Mayhew et al (2008) noted that the proportion of southern-first authored, peer-reviewed papers was already high at the time of starting partnerships, although the number of papers increased over partnerships. An inverse relationship between scientific productivity and international partnership has been reported in a study of occupational health (Navarro and Martin 2004).…”

Research in support of health systems transformation in South Africa: The experience of the Centre for Health Policy

“…[5][6][7][8] Furthermore, the literature acknowledges that research capacity building takes time and requires sustained leadership and institution building. 9,10 This article describes the role and experience of the Centre for Health Policy (CHP) in influencing and supporting health systems transformation in South Africa over two decades. We examine the factors that have facilitated, and sometimes constrained, its ability to influence change.…”

Sharing health data: developing country perspectives

“…This approach would gradually create equal partnerships, a level playing field, goodwill and trust for collaborations beyond simply sharing data. [2][3][4] International data sharing cannot be achieved through forced marriage; as shown by the defeat of the policy proposed by the Annals of Internal Medicine of a publicly accessible database as a condition for journal publication. 5 The recent sharing of avian flu virus specimens by developing countries through the World Health Organization resulted in the production of avian influenza vaccines at a price of US$ 10-20 per dose.…”