Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine
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To describe the current status of institutional facilities and the supporting research infrastructure of surveyed health research institutions in Africa, including information on communication technologies and connectivity, library resources, and laboratory operations and resources. ⋯ Health research institutions in the Region have insufficient access to essential facilities such as laboratories, libraries, computers and the Internet to generate, access and share information.
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To identify key data sources of health information and describe their availability in countries of the World Health Organization (WHO) African Region. ⋯ A multitude of data sources are used to track progress towards health-related goals in the Region, with heavy reliance on household surveys for most indicators. Countries need to develop comprehensive national plans for health information that address the full range of data needs and data sources and that include provision for building national capacities for data generation, analysis, dissemination and use.
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To describe human capacity and staff movement in national health research institutions in 42 sub-Saharan African countries. ⋯ The study revealed significant gaps in the area of human capacity development for research in Africa. The results showed a serious shortage of qualified staff engaged in health research, with a dearth of staff that held at least a master's degree or doctoral degree. Major efforts will be required to strengthen human resource capacity, including addressing the lack of motivation or time for research on the part of existing capable staff.
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To describe the status of health information systems in 14 sub-Saharan African countries of the World Health Organization African Region. ⋯ National health information systems are weak in the surveyed countries and much more needs to be done to improve the quality and relevance of data, and their management, sharing and use for policy-making and decision-making.