Your Excellency, the Minister of Health, Population and Hospital Reform of Algeria, I would like to thank the Algerian Government through you for having accepted to organize this Conference and for having invested heavily to ensure its success. Let me take this opportunity to express my satisfaction with the excellent cooperation that exists between Algeria and the World Health Organization.
Your Excellency, Minister of Health, Population and Hospital Reform of the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria,
Honourable Experts,
Distinguished Guests,
Distinguished Colleagues,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is a great pleasure for me to address this Ministerial Conference on Research for Health in Africa. The World Health Organization is determined to make a significant contribution to the efforts made by governments and other stakeholders to reduce knowledge gaps in this field.
Your Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
As you know, research plays a crucial role in the generation of knowledge, the development of technologies and the evaluation of health programmes.
At its fifty-sixth session held in August 2006, the WHO Regional Committee for Africa chose Mali to host the 2008 World Ministerial Conference on Research for Health.
The Regional Committee also confirmed that Algeria would host this Ministerial Conference the aim of which is to assess the status of health research and to agree on a joint declaration on strengthening of national systems for health research as part of our preparations for the World Conference in November in Bamako.
Your Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen,
You will remember that the priority given to research aimed at solving health problems of developing countries is based largely on the historic report of the Nobel Conference held in Sweden in 1990. The Commission on Health Research for Development noted that only 5% of the funds invested in health research in the world was devoted to illnesses which account for 95% of the world’s disease burden.
In the African Region, ministers of health agreed that we need a common vision for health research if we are to guarantee sustainable health development with particular emphasis on the Millennium Development Goals.
The fifty-sixth session of the WHO Regional Committee for Africa adopted a programme of action for research and strategic guidelines for knowledge management in heath.
Last April, the African Conference on Primary Healthcare and Health Systems adopted the Ouagadougou Declaration which, among other things, urges the Member States to strengthen health information and surveillance systems, promote operational research on health systems and create centres of excellence in research that would generate evidence for decision-making.
Your Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
In order to facilitate the deliberations of this Ministerial Conference, the WHO Regional Office conducted a regional survey on national systems for health research, in collaboration with ministries of health and other research-related institutions. I am pleased to note that the mapping of national systems for health research resulting from the survey constitutes a major milestone.
I would also like to inform you that the draft Algiers Declaration on research for health in Africa is the result of consultations among all the Member States.
I believe, therefore, that all the conditions necessary for a reasoned, thorough and productive debate at this Conference have been met.
We are honoured by the presence of the ministers of health of the African Region who have been joined by their counterparts from the Eastern Mediterranean Region. Your Excellencies, your presence among us is evidence of the interest and importance you attach to the role of research in health development in Africa, as advocated for by the African Union Health Strategy.
I am delighted to report that WHO is represented by a strong delegation of officials from headquarters, the Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office and the Regional Office for Africa and the WHO Country Office for Algeria. There are also among us colleagues from other UN system agencies; I salute them all.
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
During the next four days, we will discuss numerous issues related to health research systems, the management of knowledge for health and health information systems. Special attention will be paid to leadership and research policies, financing, human and institutional capacity, the generation and use of knowledge, and how all of this can help us to achieve better results in the field of health.
It is important to stress that the achievement of internationally-agreed health-related development objectives, including the Millennium Development Goals, is the fundamental responsibility of governments within the framework of their development policies and strategies.
This calls for mobilization and investment of more resources in the strengthening of national health research systems. It is also the responsibility of Member States to set up mechanisms capable of translating research results into concrete action. In this regard, WHO will provide them support in accordance with its mandate.
To conclude, I would like once again to thank the delegates and experts who have come to share with us their knowledge and experience. To our partners -- in particular TDR -- the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases -- I say thank you, not only for their assistance with the Survey but also for their participation in the preparation of this Conference.
I thank you all for your attention.