In the fourth of five papers in the PLoS Medicine series on maternal, neonatal, and child health in sub-Saharan Africa, Valerie Snewin from the Wellcome Trust and colleagues discuss the challenges of implementation and research capacity in Africa. While technical knowledge about what could be done to address death and disability associated with maternal, newborn, and child health is available, actual implementation is neither straightforward nor easy in the often difficult circumstances on the ground, say the authors. The many competing priorities—along with limited logistic capacity, a lack of political will, and inadequate infrastructure—constrain the extent to which effective health packages are delivered to those who need them most.
In order to address these challenges, the authors argue that "strong health research systems and research programmes that address bottlenecks to upscaling effective interventions should be developed without delay. This effort requires substantial and rapid investment in the support of African scientists, institutions, and systems that will focus on solutions to African problems."
Funding: The authors received no specific funding for this article.
Competing Interests: VAS and JW are employed by the Wellcome Trust. NKS is Chair of the steering committee for the non-profit Initiative for Strengthening Research Capacity In Africa (ISHReCA) and Director of Wellcome Trust funded THRiVE consortium, which consists of seven African institutions and two UK universities.
Citation: Whitworth J, Sewankambo NK, Snewin VA (2010) Improving Implementation: Building Research Capacity in Maternal, Neonatal, and Child Health in Africa. PLoS Med 7(7): e1000299. doi:10.1371/ journal.pmed.1000299
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CONTACT:
Valerie Snewin
Wellcome Trust
International Activities
215 Euston Road
London, UK NW1 2BE
United Kingdom
+442076117230
+442076117288 (fax)
v.snewin@wellcome.ac.uk
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j.whitworth@wellcome.ac.uk
Read the blog: Time to Deliver: Series on Maternal, Newborn and Child Health in sub-Saharan Africa.
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PLoS Medicine