Health-related knowledge production in Brazil: regional interaction networks and priority setting

Abstract

ABSTRACTSustaining and improving public health conditions require endogenous knowledge production capacities, a result of a dynamic interaction between researchers, public health officers and policy makers. In particular, in the context of high-socioeconomic inequality and diverse epidemiological profiles, the interaction between actors of the innovation system throughout the territory is necessary to identify and meet health demands. This paper presents an original contribution by addressing the changing composition and trends of regional health research networks in Brazil over time. Using Network Analysis techniques, we analysed data of over 100,000 research projects carried out in Brazil during the period of 2000–2015. We also studied the regional distribution of health research priority agendas as defined by the Ministry of Health. Our results show that despite the centralization of research capacity in the richest regions of the country, the interaction between leading research groups, both nationally and within the most disadvantaged regions, have been strengthened during the period of analysis. On the basis of this empirical evidence, the main contribution of the paper is to highlight the role of Health Policy and Science Technology and Innovation (STI) Policy, to inform knowledge production that meets public health needs.