4 For purposes of this paper, the following definitions were used:
a. Regional – this category was considered as synonymous to the South East Asian Region
SEAR, as defined by WHO. It refers to any activity conducted at the regional level within SEAR, or involving any of the 11 member states of the region. Hence, under this definition,
activities of ASEAN related to GSPA-PHI are considered as regional since 3 of the ASEAN- member countries Indonesia, Thailand and Myanmar are SEAR Member States.
b. Global – this category was considered as synonymous to non-SEAR. It refers to any activity
conducted in regions other than SEAR, or involving a country which is not a SEAR member state. It includes activities at the global, regional and national levels.
As expected, not sufficient documents were found as a result it was deemed necessary to supplement the literature review with a survey questionnaire, completed by Member States and
research institutions, to a get a true sense of the status of various elements of GSPA-PHI. The results of this survey are presented in another report
2.2 Limitations
The project covered an extremely wide scope -- 25 sub-elements classified into regional and global, or 50 sub-topics altogether. It was difficult to do a complete and comprehensive review of
documents for about 50 sub-topics within the 6 months allotted for the project. A very evident overlapping was seen with respect of both the sub-elements as well as the literature
covered. This overlapping may have led to either omission or an over representation of facts. At the regional level, there is bias towards the bigger countries, specifically India and Thailand,
because these are the countries which are good in documenting and disseminating their activities. Hence most of the literature retrieved at the regional level referred to these countries. This bias is
counteracted by including the activities identified in the country reports presented during the Regional Meeting for Assessment of Progress in Implementing the GSPA-PHI held in Bangkok on
December 16-18, 2014.
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3. CURRENT STATUS OF GSPA ELEMENTS: REGIONAL AND GLOBAL LEVELS
1. PRIORITIZING RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT NEEDS 1.1 Mapping global research and development
The main objective of the first sub-element under prioritizing research and development needs is to identify gaps in RD on diseases that disproportionately affect developing countries. Mapping is
important in order to coordinate and align investments in health RD with global public health priorities.
The first systematic and comprehensive mapping of health RD at the global level was undertaken by COHREDin 2005. The mapping activity helps identify areas which need strengthening, and help
policy makers to decide investment target areas in order to improve the performance and achievement of targets of national health research.. Since 2005, COHRED has mapped the national
health research systems of about 80 countries.
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The mapping of RD for infectious diseases of poverty is part of the strategy and business plan of the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases TDR for the year 2008-2013.
Under this Plan, the first 3 specific objectives of its Business Line 1 which is on stewardship are to:
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1. provide a global information platform on health research needs, opportunities and activities on infectious diseases of poverty;
2. develop an evidence and analysis-driven forum for the identification of priority needs and major research gaps through stakeholder consultations and to enhance the
relevance of infectious disease research priorities to control needs; and 3. provide a neutral platform for partners to discuss their activities, reach the highest
possible level of consensus and enhance their collective efficiency and advocacy for infectious diseases of the poor with active involvement of diseases endemic countries.
To meet these specific objectives, the expected end-products include, among others, the following: an online knowledge platform for infectious diseases research with equitable access to
comprehensive information on research needs, activities and achievements; highlights of scientific publications; access to published articles; news and review articles on
critical issues, discussion forums, resources, multimedia. For example TropIKA.net Tropical Diseases Research to Foster Innovation and Knowledge Application, online
knowledge platform
