Research Uptake Meeting to be held in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo

February 10th, 2017

We know that climate change will affect people across the globe. But it takes new types of transdisciplinary research on specific issues to understand what these actual impacts might be. The possible impacts of climate change on diseases of poverty in Africa, and especially on vector-borne diseases (VBDs), are likely to be serious and far-reaching. The programme entitled, Population health vulnerabilities to vector-borne diseases: increasing resilience under climate change conditions in Africa, aims to look at these issues. The work is supported by WHO TDR with funding from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Canada.

The overall goal of this research programme is to generate new evidence on VBD-related risks and vulnerabilities in the context of climate change. The project has been helping build the resilience of communities, assisting policymakers in responding to the issues, and building research capacity for the future. Along the way, it has enhanced collaboration, generated new ways of doing research, and developed policy advice products that can be used throughout Africa.

To facilitate sharing the findings of this research, WHO TDR is jointly organising a three-day Research Uptake Meeting with WHO AFRO. This will take place at the end of April at the WHO Regional Office in Africa, Brazzaville, in the Republic of Congo. The Research Uptake Meeting aims to facilitate the use of research evidence by policymakers, practitioners and other partners. Attendees to the meeting are expected to include 1) country delegations from the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Environment of Botswana, Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, Mauritania, Tanzania, South Africa and Zimbabwe, 2) the principal investigators of each of the five research projects, 3) partners from WHO (PHE, TDR, AFRO), IDRC, IRI, WMO, ACMAD, UNEP, and supporting agencies.

This gathering of policymakers, researchers and development practitioners will allow for an exchange of ideas, concerns and priorities for future action. It will also help the researchers to address the specific questions of policymakers in simple, accessible terms. It will allow the PIs to present findings that are in line with the priorities of the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Environment of the participating African countries. Other events at the meeting will include previewing a “mapping” interface product that one of the teams has been trialling with Google Earth. The Special Issue on VBDs and Climate Change (Journal of Infectious Diseases of Poverty) will also be launched. Because this meeting marks the culmination and end of this three-year research programme, plans for ensuring long-term impact will also be discussed.

A report of the meeting and of key findings will be circulated to interested parties. To receive more information about the meeting and the subsequent information materials please contact Bernadette Ramirez of WHO TDR (ramirezb@who.int) or Magaran Bagayoko at the WHO Africa Regional Office (bagayokom@who.int).