Report of 34th session of the African Advisory Committee for Health Research and Development (AACHRD) meeting
The 34th session of the African Advisory Committee for Health Research and Development (AACHRD) Meeting, was held from 11 and 12 August 2020 virtually under the theme “Health Research in The Context of Covid-19”. This session was attended by members of AACHRD, representatives of eight institutions working in the area of research and development, as well as WHO/HQ and AFRO staff, including the Regional Director (RD) for WHO in the African region, Team Leaders and experts from various clusters.
The expectations of the meeting included to refocus research priorities in the context of Covid-19 pandemic in the African region; explore ways of strengthening COVID-19 research and innovation capacities in Africa; and providing recommendations to the Regional Director on how WHO can maintain its leadership in research and innovations during and post COVID 19 era. The meeting was conducted through presentations by keynote speakers, plenary sessions and general discussions. It was organized in 7 sessions distributed around four themes, namely the review of key research priorities in the context of COVID-19 and identification of those relevant to the region, building COVID-19 research capacity in the Africa region, report of the sub committees of the AACHRD, and partner reflection on research in the context of COVID-19. This report presents a summary of proceedings from the above-mentioned sessions. Below are the key recommendations.
