Importance of health research in South Asia
BMJ 2004; 328 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.328.7443.826 (Published 01 April 2004) Cite this as: BMJ 2004;328:826
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I thank Ritu Sadana and co for analysing the issue surrounding the
lack of research in South Asian Countries.
I would like to raise another major issue which faces the lack of research
in South Asian countries. Health has been given the least priority in
the annual budget. In a country like India which has a population of over
1bn, the health budget is less than 2% of the total budget. This obviously
affects the delivery of primary care, so where would be the funding for
research?
At present the health system in these countries is run mainly by the
private sector. The private sector is driven by economics, thus again
having poor funding for research.
Vast numbers of patients go through the private health
sector. Only proper collection of data would provide unimaginable clinical
data, which could then be utilised to devise protocols for management of
different illness. Thus in the long run we will be able to achieve a
healthier population. This would also decrease the burden on the health
system of these countries.
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests
EDITOR – I congratulate you on the publication of the theme issue on
South Asia. A wealth of information on the region’s burning problems (1)
in the issue was very encouraging for a medical student like myself. I
believe this initiative may very well serve to provide a much needed
impetus to research in South Asia.
The enhancement of scientific and technology capacity in developing
countries is truly a necessity and not a luxury. (2) The role of journals
in this regard is paramount. The low participation from developing
countries in international research is well recognized. The researchers of
the developing world should also be contributors to and not just users of
the knowledge base in quality international journals. This however, is
hampered by lack of resources, poor infrastructure and dearth of properly
trained professionals. The journals can play an important part in this
regard. They can help these authors with editing, developing skills and by
conducting workshops. Journals can become truly international by having
regional branches or sections which publish local studies rather than
research carried out in western settings which do not always apply to
developing countries. (3)
Strengthening of local journals is also important. In Pakistan, three
journals are indexed internationally. From January to August 2003, they
published 214 articles. That is roughly 27 articles per month. Of these,
196 were hospital-based studies, 14 dealt with policy/planning while only
4 were community- based studies. None of the studies gave any basis of
sample size calculation and in majority of the cases the described study
design was incorrect. (4) In the year 2002, total number of registered
doctors in Pakistan were 101635. (5) If we may take it as a measure of
research productivity or interest, only 0.03% of the doctors in Pakistan
publish a paper in the local indexed journals monthly. The contribution
from nursing section in this regard is virtually non-existent.
So what is the way forward? As mentioned in this issue, an enabling
environment for research requires vision, institutional support, adequate
funds, appropriate training, and attractive career pathways. An important
role can be played by the community science departments of the medical
colleges. Health science students should be made to understand the
importance of health research in their training. They should be encouraged
to participate in community projects and mentored by their institutions.
They can begin by writing letters to editors!
REFERENCES
1 - Sadana R, D’Souza C, Hyder AA, Chowdhury AMR. Importance of
health research in South Asia. BMJ 2004; 328: 826-830.
2 - Momen H. The role of journals in enhancing health research in
developing countries. Bull World Health Organ 2004; 82:163.
3 - Sitthi-amorn C, Somrongthong R. Strengthening health research
capacity in developing countries: a critical element for achieving health
equity. BMJ 2000; 321:813-817
4 - Rehan N. Medical research in Pakistan. J Coll Physicians Surg Pak
2003; 13:617.
5 - Ministry of Finance, Government of Pakistan, Islamabad, Pakistan.
Economic survey of Pakistan, Health and Nutrition; 2002-03.
http://www.finance.gov.pk/survey/chapters/12-Health.PDF (accessed 7 April
2004.)
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests
Acceptance of finding in policy is also a pretinent issues in this region
Dear All
Nice idea about having good research in the region neglected and
deprived because of complex & fabricated by the name of
cast,customs,ethnicity,languages and so on.Lack of Institution localy to
promote accepatable mechanism to influences in policy despite evidences of
well established research.One more thing may be good to consider before
spending money to get information; is there tendency to change and accept
from findings ?There may be not knowledge gap but may be application
gap.So focus may need side by side.Good information have value if it is
used for the porpose.
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests