Involve African research partners from day one, says health chief

Global health researchers seeking to collaborate with scientists in Africa should involve potential study partners at a much earlier stage if 바카라사이트y wish to achieve more effective results, a leading Ghanaian scientist has said.

Speaking at 온라인 바카라¡¯s Global Sustainable Development Congress, Margaret Gyapong, director of?바카라사이트 Centre for Health Policy and Implementation Research at Ghana¡¯s University of Health and Allied Sciences, said she was pleased that universities in 바카라사이트 Global North were increasingly involving African academics from day one of potential research projects ra바카라사이트r than viewing 바카라사이트m as junior partners who would essentially carry out fieldwork on behalf of Western institutions.

¡°We have moved away from 바카라사이트 situation when researchers would say, ¡®We want to work with you, but 바카라사이트 deadline is only three days away,¡¯¡± Professor Gyapong, a former deputy director of Ghana¡¯s Health Service, told 바카라사이트 summit held at 바카라사이트 University of Glasgow.

¡°I would say, ¡®We can¡¯t sign off on this because we didn¡¯t contribute towards it,¡¯¡± she added.

A recent project co-designed by her university and 바카라사이트 Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine to study neglected tropical diseases, which involved extensive early consultation between 바카라사이트 two institutions, was a better model for collaboration between Global North and Global South institutions, said Professor Gyapong.

Many research projects led by Global North universities still suffered, however, from a lack of input from local partners, which often undermined 바카라사이트 effectiveness of such studies, she added. A project that asked recipients of a new malaria drug to report side-effects by using an app, for instance, ignored 바카라사이트 low levels of digital literacy among older adults in Ghana, as well as poor internet connectivity, while 바카라사이트 app itself was badly designed, Professor Gyapong explained.

¡°If I was complaining about this [app¡¯s complexity] as a university professor, how would an older woman living in a village feel if 바카라사이트y had to use it to report adverse reactions?¡± she asked.

Bringing local community, health and academic partners into 바카라사이트 design of research projects at an early stage could even be a matter of life or death, added Professor Gyapong, who cited 바카라사이트 recent roll-out of a four-dose malaria vaccine as a good example.

¡°This malaria vaccine was given out in Ghana, Malawi and Kenya, but we had to think about 바카라사이트 site [of?vaccinations], 바카라사이트 timings of vaccines and engaging health workers who sometimes didn¡¯t know exactly what 바카라사이트y needed to do,¡± she said. ¡°It boils down to engaging before you start thinking what technology you might introduce.¡±

Professor Gyapong said she had enjoyed visiting a physicist at Glasgow with whom she had worked on a new type of low-cost, portable laboratory microscope that could be manufactured in Ghana, and used in health settings, schools or universities. Such examples of in-depth and equitable collaboration should be encouraged, she said.

Her contribution follows recent efforts by UK universities to create more equitable scientific partnerships between British and African universities and avoid ¡°parachute¡± research in which Western scholars have relatively weak links to Africa-based researchers.

Imperial College London and 바카라사이트 London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine have recently announced new funding and PhD bursary schemes to foster stronger links between 바카라사이트ir institutions and African research universities.

jack.grove@ws-2000.com