WHO/PLoS Collection 'No Health Without Research': Call for Papers

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Vijay

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Dear HIFA2015 members,

I would like to draw your attention to our call for papers: WHO/PLoS Collection

'No Health Without Research'.

This special collection will be published in association with the World Health

Report 2012.

The call is reproduced below and can also be accessed at:

http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pmed.1001008

Research into the health information and learning needs of healthcare providers

and ordinary citizens is an integral and important part of health systems

research and forms the basis for rational decision- and policy-making. We

therefore welcome submissions on these topics, especially research,

documentation and sharing of real experiences from low- and middle-income

countries.

With thanks,

Dr Tikki Pang

HIFA2015 profile: Tikki Pang is Director for Research Policy and ation at

the World Health Organization, Geneva. pangt AT who.int

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WHO/PLoS Collection 'No Health Without Research': A Call for Papers

Tikki Pang, F. Terry, The PLoS Medicine Editors

It seems astonishing that in the 21st century decisions on health care can still

be made without a solid grounding in research evidence. This is true even in

clinical research, whether for simple or complex interventions [1], where

systematic reviews time and time again conclude that the evidence base is

inadequate [2]. It is even more true in the areas of health policy and health

systems, where quality research is hampered further by a lack of shared

definitions, a lack of consensus on guiding principles, poor capacity

(especially in low-resource regions), and methodological challenges [3],[4].

The World Health Report (WHR) for 2012 will be on the theme of 'No Health

without Research'. This flagship report from WHO will, for the first time in its

history, focus on research for better health. The primary target audience of the

report will be ministers of health in the WHO member states, and the goal of the

report is to provide new ideas, innovative thinking, and pragmatic advice for

member states on how to strengthen their own health research systems. The report

will have the three following aims.

- To show that research is important for meeting health needs and improving

health outcomes;

- To encourage countries to therefore invest more resources in developing and

strengthening their national health research systems;

- To argue that countries should not see research as an expense or as an

afterthought, but as an investment for a better, healthier future.

The WHR 2012 aims to provide impetus for a change to the problematic state of

affairs of health research. Given the stated goals of the report, of particular

importance is the documentation and sharing of real experiences from the

countries where the research has been done. We therefore wish to invite the

submission of articles, especially from low- and middle-income countries, on

topics related to the strengthening of key functions and components of national

health research systems [5]. We would then aim to publish a WHO/PLoS Collection

culminating in 2012 to coincide with the release of the WHR. Thus, we welcome

examples of research and/or case studies in the following areas.

- Experience with setting and implementing health research priorities;

- Experience with building, strengthening, and retaining research capacity, at

both the individual and institutional levels;

- National research and development initiatives and experiences to produce

needed medical products, including development of national pharmaceutical

production capabilities, using TRIPS (trade-related aspects of intellectual

property rights) flexibilities for essential medicines, technology transfer,

etc.;

- Examples of appropriate use of evidence in health policy development;

- Models of how to organize research within a country, including the

establishment of effective research networks and sustainable governance

mechanisms;

- Standards and mechanisms to ensure the responsible conduct of research (e.g.,

ethics review, access to research results, codes of conduct, etc.);

- Exercises to evaluate the impact of research investments;

- Experiences with external foreign aid for research.

- Ideally, studies or reports should not be merely descriptions of activities

but should include evaluation of the impact of initiatives after their

implementation. Special consideration will also be given to systematic and

well-performed multi-country comparative studies on the topics mentioned above,

including systematic reviews, in selected topic areas.

In addition to primary research (both quantitative and qualitative) and

well-developed case studies, we also invite the submission of review and policy

articles on how national health research systems contribute to the broader

international research endeavor, especially in the context of the following

areas.

Global health research governance;

Inequitable access to the benefits and products of research;

Global standards for responsible research conduct;

Future research trends with implications for the developing world.

All papers should be submitted to PLoS Medicine, noting that they are intended

for this collection. There is no deadline for submissions-they will be processed

as and when they are received. An initial decision will be made about their

potential suitability for either PLoS Medicine or another PLoS journal. The

authors will be informed of this decision and papers will be peer-reviewed

according to the specific journal's policies. PLoS will retain all control over

editorial decisions. Once a paper is accepted for publication in a PLoS journal

it will then be forwarded to the selection panel for the collection. This panel,

which will comprise PLoS and WHO staff, will decide on the articles for

inclusion in the collection. Further information on this process is available at

the collections page ( http://www.ploscollections.org/whr2012).

This is new initiative for PLoS and WHO. We look forward to collaborating on

this initiative and hope it will encourage researchers to submit to PLoS the

very best examples of research underpinning health care.

References

1. Shepperd S, Lewin S, Straus S, e M, Eccles MP, et al. (2009) Can we

systematically review studies that evaluate complex interventions? PLoS Med 6:

e1000086. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1000086.

2. Chalmers I, Glasziou P (2009) Avoidable waste in the production and reporting

of research evidence. Lancet 374: 86-89.

3. Remme JHF, Adam T, Becerra-Posada F, D'Arcangues C, Devlin M, et al. (2010)

Defining research to improve health systems. PLoS Med 7: e1001000.

doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1001000.

4. Swanson RC, Bongiovanni A, Bradley E, Murugan V, Sundewall J, et al. (2010)

Toward a consensus on guiding principles for health systems strengthening. PLoS

Med 7: e1000385. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1000385.

5. Pang T, Sadana R, Hanney S, Bhutta ZA, Hyder AA, et al. (2003) Knowledge for

better health - A conceptual framework and foundation for health research

systems. Bull World Health Organ 81: 815-820.