In February 2020, a team from University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS) was one of four in Africa that were selected by Health Systems Global (HSG) and awarded a small grant to undertake a convening. These public policy discussions are aimed at stimulating communal efforts to draw insights on actions that will strengthen health policy systems research, and address an HSG priority of advocating for domestic funding of research in African countries.
UHAS, with the support of HSG, held its convening from 29 to 30 July via Zoom meeting platform, featuring a panel of high-profile experts who spoke on various topics under the theme: “The rhetoric to fund research by Africa’s Governments must stop: Raising a new voice for improving the continent’s health challenges over the next generation.”
The convening culminated in the drafting of the “UHAS 2020 Declaration on Research Funding”, that will be submitted to the President of the Republic and other identified actors, as a vehicle to lobby government to deliver on unfulfilled promises to fund research that will advance development priorities.
Click here to download the document
The panel of expert speakers at the event included Prof. John Gyapong, Vice-Chancellor UHAS; Prof. Hannah Akuffo, Senior Research Advisor, Swedish Development Cooperation Agency (Sida); Dr. Joseph Okeibunor, RDI Team Lead, World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa (WHO-AFRO); Dr. Martha Gyansa-Lutterodt, Director of Technical Coordination at the Ministry of Health; Prof. Mike Osei-Atweneboana, Director of the Water Research Institute at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR); Dr. Samuel Akoriyea, Director of Institutional Care at Ghana Health Service; and Dr. Kojo Mensah-Abrampa, Director General, National Development Planning Commission.