ViewpointHealth research in the tropics
Section snippets
Impact of health research in the South
Research priorities for the health and development of the North and the South are not the same.8 In a comparison of applications submitted to the Science Technology Development/Commission of the European Committees (STD/CEC) programme by scientists from the North and the South, European scientists proposed to work on a few major tropical diseases, whereas the South gave priority to preventative medicine and health difficulties related to environment and nutrition.9 This difference in priorities
Financial means and budget
African researchers are completely dependent on donors and scientific cooperation with Northern research partners. One of the African respondents said, “Lack of funds can be understood as lack of funds for local research initiatives. There are funds for Northern initiatives, and consultancies within the framework of Northern research programmes are well-paid”. The dean of the medical faculty in Maputo, Mozambique, said about collaboration programmes: “We have to accept their priorities and
Donor coordination and cooperation with Northern institutes
The dependence of the Southern researchers on Northern research institutes and donors makes the Southern researchers keen to cooperate with them. The Southern researchers protect their contacts jealously, and because of the lack of networking within their own countries, become isolated. In Benin, we interviewed three researchers, all of whom had investigated impregnated bed-nets for prevention of malaria, none aware of the initiatives of the other two. They each had their own donors and
Need for research programmes that put Southern requirements first
Rather than strengthening the research infrastructure, conventional research cooperation is often counterproductive for development of a sustainable research environment. First, such research cooperation pushes international or regional priorities that do not coincide with national priorities; second, it creates a division of work between the Northern and the Southern partners that impedes the transfer of knowledge and technology; third, it makes national cooperation impossible because
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