Derege Kebede 1 , Chris Zielinski 2 , Peter Ebongue Mbondji 2 , Issa Sanou 2 , Wenceslas Kouvividila 2 , Paul-Samson Lusamba-Dikassa 2 Show Affiliations »
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To describe the current status of institutional facilities and the supporting research infrastructure of surveyed health research institutions in Africa, including information on communication technologies and connectivity, library resources, and laboratory operations and resources. DESIGN: A structured questionnaire was used to solicit information on institutional facilities at health research institutions. SETTING: Health research institutions in 42 sub-Saharan African countries. PARTICIPANTS: Key informants from 847 health research institutions. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The availability of laboratory, information and communication, and library facilities in health research institutions. RESULTS: Less than half of the respondent health research institutions had computer laboratories (49%), network computers (50%) and information technology support (38%). More than two-thirds (67%) had a library. Electronic subscriptions to international journals were observed to be very low, with an average of three subscriptions per institution. Almost two-thirds of the surveyed institutions (69%) reported having laboratories, about half of which (55%) were accredited nationally. Linkages and research collaborations were generally weak, particularly those with other laboratories in the Region. Challenges included financial and human resource constraints and the inability to communicate effectively with partners. CONCLUSIONS: Health research institutions in the Region have insufficient access to essential facilities such as laboratories, libraries, computers and the Internet to generate, access and share information. © The Royal Society of Medicine.
OBJECTIVE: To describe the current status of institutional facilities and the supporting research infrastructure of surveyed health research institutions in Africa, including information on communication technologies and connectivity, library resources, and laboratory operations and resources. DESIGN: A structured questionnaire was used to solicit information on institutional facilities at health research institutions. SETTING: Health research institutions in 42 sub-Saharan African countries. PARTICIPANTS: Key informants from 847 health research institutions. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The availability of laboratory, information and communication, and library facilities in health research institutions. RESULTS: Less than half of the respondent health research institutions had computer laboratories (49%), network computers (50%) and information technology support (38%). More than two-thirds (67%) had a library. Electronic subscriptions to international journals were observed to be very low, with an average of three subscriptions per institution. Almost two-thirds of the surveyed institutions (69%) reported having laboratories, about half of which (55%) were accredited nationally. Linkages and research collaborations were generally weak, particularly those with other laboratories in the Region. Challenges included financial and human resource constraints and the inability to communicate effectively with partners. CONCLUSIONS: Health research institutions in the Region have insufficient access to essential facilities such as laboratories, libraries, computers and the Internet to generate, access and share information. © The Royal Society of Medicine.
Entities: Chemical
Keywords:
Africa research; health research; research facilities; research systems
Year: 2014
PMID： 24643660 PMCID： PMC4109350 DOI： 10.1177/0141076813517680
Source DB: PubMed Journal: J R Soc Med ISSN： 0141-0768 Impact factor: 5.344