The Global Health Research Initiative announces grant winners for research to
strengthen health systems in Africa
OTTAWA, April 1 /CNW Telbec/ - The Global Health Research Initiative (GHRI) announced today $3.5 million in funding to support ten African-led research teams who will look for innovative ways to strengthen health systems in sub-Saharan Africa. The teams will be led jointly by an African researcher and an African decision-maker and will involve several Canadian researchers.
The funds come from a $5.9 million contribution to the Global Health Research Initiative provided by the Canadian International Development Agency ($5 million through its Africa Health Systems Initiative) and the International Development Research Centre ($0.9M through its Governance, Equity and Health program). Of the $5.9 million contribution, over 80% of the resources will go directly to the African institutions involved in finding relevant solutions to health systems programming challenges in Africa.
Drawing on a wide-range of research expertise from several disciplines, the ten winning teams will focus on key health system issues, including health human resources, front-line health service delivery, as well as community and hospital-based health information management. Special attention will be given to the needs of underserviced segments of the population, including women, children and youth.
"Policy-makers and decision-makers need high quality, up-to-date research findings to guide their efforts to improve health systems that are vital to human health the world over," said Carol Clemenhagen, Program Leader for the Global Health Research Initiative. "These African-led research teams will help ensure that Canada's investments in efforts to strengthen health systems across the sub-Saharan region are effective in improving health outcomes."
The funded teams will be based in seven sub-Saharan countries, including Burkina Faso, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. They will focus on the health priorities of these seven nations and will work to connect research, policy and action to improve health decision-making and programming across the region.
The Global Health Research Initiative (GHRI) is a research funding partnership of five departments and agencies of the Government of Canada. The Initiative funds international research on global health challenges, including efforts to strengthen health systems in the developing world. The GHRI partners are the Canadian International Development Agency, the International Development Research Centre, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada.
Since it was launched in 2001, GHRI has contributed to Canada's ongoing effort to help solve the world's most pressing health problems through its support to Canadian researchers working in collaboration with researchers and research users in over 65 countries in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and the Americas.
BACKGROUNDERS/LINKS: Backgrounder on the ten AHSI-RES teams (http://www.idrc.ca/en/ev-128914-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html) Link to GHRI (http://www.idrc.ca/en/ev-114548-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html) Link to AHSI (http://www.acdi-cida.gc.ca/acdi-cida/ACDI-CIDA.nsf/eng/JUD-824143542-PTE) Link to IDRC (http://www.idrc.ca/en/ev-1-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html)
For further information: For further information: Robert Geneau, Senior Program Officer, Global Health Research Initiative, [email protected], (613) 696-2618
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