National health research systems in the WHO African Region: current status and the way forward.

Background: A number of resolutions of the World Health Assembly and the WHO Regional Committee for Africa call upon African countries and their development partners to make the required investments in national health research systems (NHRS) to generate knowledge and promote its use in tackling priority public health challenges. Implementation of these resolutions is critical for Africa to progress with the rest of the world in achieving the post-2015 health sustainable development goal. This study assesses the current status of some NHRS components in the 47 countries of the WHO African Region, identifies the factors that enable and constrain NHRS, and proposes the way forward.

Where there is no Internet: delivering health information via the blue trunk libraries.

There are many areas in the developing world that have neither computers nor a reliable electricity supply. In response to the need for printed health information, WHO librarians created the Blue Trunk Library Project.