Elena Martinelli, PhD
Internship PAHO, Research Promotion & Development team (THR/RP), Technology Health Care & Research (THR) Supervisor: Dr. Luis Gabriel Cuervo Amore September 10th 2008 – March 9th 2009 Summary of the activities As agreed with the supervisor and stated in the terms of references (see at the end), major purposes of the internship were to assist with preparation and development of PAHO’ s Research Policy and the mapping and analysis of health research governance in member states. Under the supervision of Dr. Luis Gabriel Cuervo Amore, Senior Advisor (team leader) of PAHO's Research Promotion and Development team, these activities were successfully accomplished; the focus and main drive was the mapping of research governance and development of PAHO’s Policy on Research for Health. 1. PAHO Research for Health Policy (see Annex I): a. The available drafts of research policy documents were reviewed and combined. b. Bibliography of the drafts was checked and updated. c. The document was modified to conform its content to the final draft of the WHO strategy on research for health,i the Bamako call to action,ii and the Regional Contributions that resulted of the consultations leading to Bamako that were presented to PAHO’s 48th Directing Council. d. Based on the feedback provided at PAHO’s 42nd meeting of the Advisory Committee on Health Research and the advise provided by the Director,
PAHO THR/RP Internship report by Elena Martinelli, April 2009
the format and framework of the policy were adapted in lines with PAHO’s Gender Equality Policy. e. We had several reviews and iterations with Dr. Cuervo reviewing and adjusting the document until the content and format adequately communicated global and local views of the role of research in health and development. Objectives and implementation activities were examined for their coherence. Particular attention was placed to retain aspects of the previous drafts of the Policy that were more regionally and locally oriented. f. The final draft was edited by Joanne McManus and sent out for review to the PAHO staff and ACHR members, and selected strategic partners. Although a comprehensive consultation had been planed, a modified shorter consultation mainly with PAHO Staff and few partners took place because the deadlines for the delivery of documents for Governing Bodies were advanced with short notification. A revised version of the draft Policy was submitted to the WHO staff, focal points in the countries and collaborating centers, as well as to health authorities and other health sector’s stakeholders and the comments that came from the consultation were addressed. g. What remains to be done: The revised version of the document was submitted in April 2009 to the offices of the Governing Bodies and Assistant Director in preparation for its submission to PAHO’ s 143rd Executive Committee. The Executive Committee will decide if the Policy will be submitted to the 49th Directive Council. If approved, future steps should include a strategic plan to implement the policy, define a budget and specific action plans. 2. Mapping and analysis of National Health Research Systems (NHRS) in member states: a. I summarized in tables (see Annex II) the information on NHRS present in the fourteen papers prepared for the First Latin American Conference on
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PAHO THR/RP Internship report by Elena Martinelli, April 2009
Research and Innovation for Healthiii by Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, Peru’, Uruguay and Venezuela. The tables offer web links to documents and institutions facilitating access to information about various aspects of national Health Research Systems in the above-mentioned countries, such as Governance, Management, Coordination, Health/Research Priorities and strategies for health, research and innovation. b. A fill-in form, capturing basic information on NHRS of a country and contacts of reference personnel, was developed to assist the gathering of data from other countries, completing data and verifying and updating data (see Annex III). The form allows capturing data directly into an electronic database using standardized questions. c. The information present in the fourteen country papersiv will be described in details in an article that will be coauthored by Elena Martinelli and by COHRED (Still preliminary, no draft yet available. The corresponding author will be Jackeline Alger malaria@cablecolor.hn). The draft will be shared with THR/RP for review before publication. d. Elena Martinelli’s MPH Capstone Project which will be made available to PAHO’s THR/RP when available and analyses of information acquired from the mapping exercise. e. What remains to be done: the information on National Health Research Systems provided in the table should be made available on the PAHO website once it has been validated by officials from Member States. The mapping for the Region should be completed (using the fill-in form)
Personal and professional experience The main goal of my internship at PAHO was to have a first hand experience of PAHO’ s work. Attending important events such as the PAHO Directive Council in Page 3 of 5
PAHO THR/RP Internship report by Elena Martinelli, April 2009
September allowed me to have a glimpse of the life and the work a great international organization. Working under the supervision and guidance of Dr. Luis Gabriel Cuervo at PAHO's Research Promotion and Development team, I had the opportunity to contribute to the team efforts to promote research and evidence informed decision making, inside and outside the organization. I feel very strongly about this subject and, helping PAHO’ s Research for Health Policy to come into light was a great honor and a wonderful experience. I had the opportunity to work precisely on what I believed was important. I arrived at PAHO wondering how research was seen in the organization and which efforts were made to engage countries into increasing their health research capacity. I found my answer. Not only PAHO but also the WHO are in the process of building a framework to foster countries’ efforts in developing research capacity. Moreover, perhaps for the first time, I was compelled to learn how different governance systems influence research outputs and activities. From a personal point of view, the internship gave me the opportunity to understand how interpersonal relations evolve in PAHO and, probably, also in many other large, highly bureaucratic organizations. More importantly, I learned from the precious suggestions and insights of Dr Cuervo, as well as, from sharing thoughts and ideas with his fantastic collaborators.
Terms of Reference for the Internship 1. Assist with preparation and development of PAHOs Research Policy and the mapping and Analysis of health research governance in member states, including but not limited to the following: • Bibliographic searches (electronic or otherwise) and preparation of a database of references, maps of health research governance and short summaries • Verification and update of bibliographic and data sources and identification of additional resources for each section (websites, text books, articles, other) if needed
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PAHO THR/RP Internship report by Elena Martinelli, April 2009
• Review, editing and improvement of PAHOs Research Policy draft taking into consideration recommendations by expert groups and consultants. 2. Support other THR/RP initiatives such as: a. The development of strategies to facilitate the implementation of trial registration in the Americas under WHO’s International Clinical Trial Register Platform b. Planning and implementing a “Guidelines for the Development of PAHO Guidelines” that contributes to strengthen the quality and standards of technical cooperation documents at PAHO. 3. Assist with other team work program activities, as needed.
i
Available at http://www.who.int/rpc/research_strategy/en/ Available at http://www.bamako2008.org/ iii Report of the Conference: devserver.paho.org/hq/index.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_download&gid=288&Itemid= iv Available at: http://www.cohred.org/main/publications/background_papers.php ii
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