The meeting of the Global Ministerial Forum on Research for Health, in Bamako, Mali, is discussed in the lead Editorial in this week's edition of The Lancet. At the meeting, ministers and officials showed concern and commitment, mixed with extraordinary creativity.
The Editorial says: "In truth, the hopes for this conference had been limited. The world is struggling to reach the Millennium Development Goals. New and complex health threats are emerging (chronic diseases and climate change, for example). And the current global financial crisis threatens to curtail the ambitions of those wishing to rescue nations from old and new burdens of disease. Yet ministers showed solidarity and leadership in throwing out an early draft call to action and replacing it with a far more radical and ambitious document."
The Bamako call to action went well beyond its predecessor, The 2004 Mexico Statement on health research. Bamako brought together multiple sectors, made the link between health research and education centre stage, recognised the vital advocacy role of civil society, and identified primary health care as the chief priority in policies for research and innovation to strengthen health systems. Also emphasised were the roles of knowledge translation, regional alliances between countries, and the importance of a robust regulatory and ethical framework. Ministers wanted a more streamlined global health architecture with fewer but stronger institutions. Countries committed themselves to allocate at least 2% of national health budgets to research; and funders were called on to invest at least 5% of health sector aid to research. Ministers promised to give greater attention to building health information systems, especially to collect, store, and share data for local analysis and use.
Multilateral contributors to Bamako—WHO, UNESCO, and the World Bank—were asked to promote, expand, and implement research strategies with an emphasis on listening to country agendas and responding to their priorities. The idea of Nov 18 as an annual World Day of Research for Health was proposed as one means to maintain attention on this lever for health improvement.
WHO's executive board will consider the Bamako call to action in January 2009. The Editorial concludes: "Policy makers and scientists too often seem to exist in different worlds, missing every opportunity to learn from one another. In Mali, WHO and its partners succeeded in bringing these two worlds together to forge a remarkable alliance. Last week's deliberations were an example of what can be achieved through patient and persistent engagement. 2009 must be the year when the promises of Bamako are acted upon."
Lancet Press Office T) +44 (0) 20 7424 4949 E) pressoffice@lancet.com
For full Editorial: http://press.thelancet.com/editorials2911.pdf
Journal
The Lancet