CARTA fellows\u2019 scientific contribution to the African public and population Health Research agenda (2011 to 2018)

Jude O Igumbor,Edna N Bosire,Sharon Fonn,Dieudonne Uwizeye,Daphney Conco,Ademola Ajuwon,Emmanuel Otukpa,Evelyn Gitau,Hesborn Wao,Florah Karimi,Olufunke Fayehun,Tariro J Basera

doi:10.1186/s12889-020-09147-w

Abstract

BackgroundSince its inception in 2009, the Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa (CARTA) program has focused on strengthening the capacity of nine African universities and four research centres to produce skilled researchers and scholars able to improve public and population health on the continent. This study describes the alignment between CARTA-supported doctoral topics and publications with the priorities articulated by the African public and population health research agenda.MethodsWe reviewed the output from CARTA PhD fellows between 2011 and 2018 to establish the volume and scope of the publications, and the degree to which the research focus coincided with the SDGs, World Bank, and African Development Bank research priority areas. We identified nine key priority areas into which the topics were classified.ResultsIn total, 140 CARTA fellows published 806 articles in peer-reviewed journals over the 8 years up to 2018. All the publications considered in this paper had authors affiliated with African universities, 90% of the publications had an African university first author and 41% of the papers have CARTA fellows as the first author. The publications are available in over 6300 online versions and have been cited in over 5500 other publications. About 69% of the published papers addressed the nine African public and population health research agenda and SDG priority areas. Infectious diseases topped the list of publications (26.8%), followed by the health system and policy research (17.6%), maternal and child health (14.7%), sexual and reproductive health (14.3%).ConclusionsInvestments by CARTA in supporting doctoral studies provides fellows with sufficient training and skills to publish their research in fields of public and population health. The number of publications is understandably uneven across Africa’s public and population priority areas. Even while low in number, fellows are publishing in areas such as non-communicable disease, health financing, neglected tropical diseases and environmental health. Violence and injury is perhaps underrepresented. There is need to keep developing research capacity in partner institutions with low research output by training more PhDs in such institutions and by facilitating enabling environments for research.

Highlights

Since its inception in 2009, the Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa (CARTA) program has focused on strengthening the capacity of nine African universities and four research centres to produce skilled researchers and scholars able to improve public and population health on the continent
This study describes the publications authored by CARTA supported PhD fellows and compared them to published consensus on African public and population health research agenda of the sustainable development goals (SDGs), World Bank (WB) and Africa Development Bank (AfDB)
This process resulted in the nine priority area in which CARTA fellows have published including: (1) infectious diseases, (2) non-communicable diseases (NCDs), (3) mental health, (4) sexual and reproductive health (SRH), (5) maternal and child health (MCH), (6) health systems and policy, (7) violence and injuries, (8) food security and nutrition and (9) environmental health

Summary

Introduction

Since its inception in 2009, the Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa (CARTA) program has focused on strengthening the capacity of nine African universities and four research centres to produce skilled researchers and scholars able to improve public and population health on the continent. Current disease estimates indicate increases in the incidence of NCDs, including cardiovascular diseases (like hypertension and stroke), cancers, and diabetes, which are major causes of morbidity and mortality and are projected to overtake infectious diseases by 2030 [2] This is occurring when most African countries are still struggling to control infectious diseases – such as Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (HIV and AIDS) and Tuberculosis (TB), due to weak and overburdened health systems [3]; inadequate resources for scaling up proven interventions; poor management of human resources for health; and recurrent natural and man-made disasters and emergencies [4]. Other contributors to the heavy disease burden on the continent include food insecurity, poor access to safe sanitation, the prevalence of indoor pollutants, increased rates of unemployment, violence and forced migration and access to cheap but unhealthy foods [5] Tackling these challenges and coming up with pragmatic solutions requires robust research [6, 7]. Other reasons for under-performance include inadequate access to research training [9], poor research infrastructure and technology such as laboratories and computers, insufficient mentorship for junior researchers [11], and limited collaboration or partnerships among research institutions within Africa [10]

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