Fix the system.

Letter by IJsselmuiden on 'From the Editor' article by Farham (Farham B. Fix the system. S Afr Med J 2022;112(5):299.

Addressing conflicts of interest of ethical reviewers of health planning, management, policy and systems research proposals.

Steering health systems towards universal health coverage requires research on themes that are of particular interest to health planning, management, policy and systems researchers. Some issues, such as strikes regarded as illegal and health sector corruption, because of their social and political sensitivity have, for too long, remained outside adequate research inquiry. Their emergence in the research agenda raises some challenges for Human Research Ethics Committees, particularly related to their conflicts of interests as reviewers, that need clarification.

Rethinking and strengthening the Global Health Diplomacy through triangulated nexus between policy makers, scientists and the community in light of COVID-19 global crisis.

The COVID-19 pandemic is considerably the biggest global health challenge of this modern era. Spreading across all regions of the world, this corona virus disease has disrupted even some of the most advanced economies and healthcare systems. With an increasing global death toll and no near end in sight, questions on the efficacy of global response mechanisms, including the role and relevancy of global health institutions, have emerged.

The : Filling a critical gap in global research ethics.

2017 marked the 70 anniversary of the Nuremberg Code. The ethics of research with human beings has been shaped by the simplicity of its core logic, i.e.

Mapping research ethics committees in Africa: Evidence of the growth of ethics review of health research in Africa.

Health research initiatives worldwide are growing in scope and complexity, particularly as they move into the developing world. Expanding health research activity in low- and middle-income countries has resulted in a commensurate rise in the need for sound ethical review structures and functions in the form of Research Ethics Committees (RECs). The urgent need for continued capacity development in Africa has necessitated research initiatives to identify existing capacity.

Developing the Philippines as a Global Hub for Disaster Risk Reduction - A Health Research Initiative as Presented at the 10th Philippine National Health Research System Week Celebration.

The recent Philippine National Health Research System (PNHRS) Week Celebration highlighted the growing commitment to Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) in the Philippines. The event was lead by the Philippine Council for Health Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology and the Department of Health, and saw the participation of national and international experts in DRR, and numerous research consortia from all over the Philippines. With a central focus on the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, the DRR related events recognised the significant disaster risks faced in the Philippines.

Global Forum 2015 dialogue on "From evidence to policy - thinking outside the box": perspectives to improve evidence uptake and good practices in the African Region.

Background: The Global Forum 2015 panel session dialogue entitled "From evidence to policy - thinking outside the box" was held on 26 August 2015 in the Philippines to debate why evidence was not fully translated into policy and practice and what could be done to increase its uptake. This paper reports the reasons and possible actions for increasing the uptake of evidence, and highlights the actions partners could take to increase the use of evidence in the African Region.

Discussion: The Global Forum 2015 debate attributed African Region's low uptake of evidence to the big gap in incentives and interests between research for health researchers and public health policy-makers; limited appreciation on the side of researchers that public health decisions are based on multiple and complex considerations; perception among users that research evidence is not relevant to local contexts; absence of knowledge translation platforms; sub-optimal collaboration and engagement between industry and research institutions; lack of involvement of civil society organizations; lack of engagement of communities in the research process; failure to engage the media; limited awareness and debate in national and local parliaments on the importance of investing in research and innovation; and dearth of research and innovation parks in the African Region.

Consensus statement understanding health and malnutrition through a systems approach: the ENOUGH program for early life.

Nutrition research, like most biomedical disciplines, adopted and often uses experimental approaches based on Beadle and Tatum's one gene-one polypeptide hypothesis, thereby reducing biological processes to single reactions or pathways. Systems thinking is needed to understand the complexity of health and disease processes requiring measurements of physiological processes, as well as environmental and social factors, which may alter the expression of genetic information. Analysis of physiological processes with omics technologies to assess systems' responses has only become available over the past decade and remains costly.

Current status and future prospects of epidemiology and public health training and research in the WHO African region.

Background: To date little has been published about epidemiology and public health capacity (training, research, funding, human resources) in WHO/AFRO to help guide future planning by various stakeholders.

Methods: A bibliometric analysis was performed to identify published epidemiological research. Information about epidemiology and public health training, current research and challenges was collected from key informants using a standardized questionnaire.

Mapping African ethical review committee activity onto capacity needs: the MARC initiative and HRWeb's interactive database of RECs in Africa.

Health research initiatives worldwide are growing in scope and complexity, particularly as they move into the developing world. Expanding health research activity in low- and middle-income countries has resulted in a commensurate rise in the need for sound ethical review structures and functions in the form of Research Ethics Committees (RECs). Yet these seem to be lagging behind as a result of the enormous challenges facing these countries, including poor resource availability and lack of capacity.

Africa's neglected area of human resources for health research - the way forward.

Building the skills for doing, managing and delivering health research is essential for every country's development. Yet, human resources for health research (HRHR) are seldom considered in Africa and elsewhere. Africa's health research capacity has grown considerably, with potential to increase this growth.

Evolving values in ethics and global health research.

Over the past 25 years, the ethics of international health research have shifted from addressing narrow issues such as cultural differences in informed consent practices towards a greater emphasis on development and social justice. We anticipate that the next 'era' in international research ethics will involve an intensification of this focus on the role of research in achieving global justice. Three values, in particular, will shape how ethics considerations should evolve: solidarity; respect for Southern innovation; and commitment to action.

Increasing access to surgical services in sub-saharan Africa: priorities for national and international agencies recommended by the Bellagio Essential Surgery Group.

In this Policy Forum, the Bellagio Essential Surgery Group, which was formed to advocate for increased access to surgery in Africa, recommends four priority areas for national and international agencies to target in order to address the surgical burden of disease in sub-Saharan Africa.