Challenges in communicable disease research
Although there is a considerable amount of disease control research occurring in the Western Pacific Region, there are still a significant number of programmatic gaps. Via a series of consultation and studies conducted in 2008 and 2009, the key issues facing research in communicable diseases in the Region were identified as follows:
- Inadequate capacity development of research and scientific papers;
- Infrastructure, facilities and equipment for research is still lacking in many developing countries;
- Governance and quality control of research is still an issue in the Region;
- Resource mobilization for the conduct of health research continues to be a challenge;
- Significant gaps in knowledge about communicable diseases, particularly neglected tropical diseases, still remain;
- New modalities of inter-programmatic, inter-sectoral prevention and control strategies are needed in order to link human, animals and environmental sectors in the Region;
- Disease specific regional and national action plans are needed;
- Vulnerable populations are hardest to reach not only in disease prevention and control but also in research;
- Political commitment and priority setting are lacking;
- Evidence-based decision making is still weak; and
- Coordination and communication are inadequate.