Abstract
BackgroundIn Panama, the health research system has been strengthened during recent years by the development of new financing opportunities, promotion of scientific and technological activities, and initiation of human capital training to ultimately improve competitiveness. However, aligning this system with the population’s health needs is a significant challenge. This study was designed to characterize the National Health Research System in Panama, aiming to understand it within a local context to facilitate policymaking.MethodsThe study was based on the analysis of operative and functional components of the National Health Research System, characterized by four specific components: stewardship, financing, creation and maintenance of resources, and production and use of research results. The analysis was based on official documents from key local institutions in the areas of science, technology and innovation management, and health and health research, as well as bibliographic databases.ResultsPanama’s National Health Research System is characterized by the presence of only two biomedical research institutes and reduced research activity in hospitals and universities, ambivalent governance, a low critical mass of researchers, reduced capacity to recruit new researchers, poor scientific production, and insufficient investment in science and technology.ConclusionsThe present study illustrates an approach to the context of the Panamanian Health Research System which characterizes the system as insufficient to accomplish its operative role of generating knowledge for new health interventions and input for innovations. In turn, this analysis emphasizes the need to develop a National Health Research Policy, which should include longer-term plans and a strategy to overcome the asymmetries and gaps between the different actors and components of the current system.
Highlights
In Panama, the health research system has been strengthened during recent years by the development of new financing opportunities, promotion of scientific and technological activities, and initiation of human capital training to improve competitiveness
At the country level, a health research system (HRS) is essential for producing and capturing health-related knowledge to improve the population’s health. The significance of these systems was once again recognized at the Latin American Conference on Research and Innovation for Health (Panama, 2011), where some of the central themes discussed included the importance of analyzing HRSs in order to strengthen these systems and optimize
Structural problems persist in Panama, including poverty, marginalization, and inequality; 32.4% of the population lives below the poverty line and 14.2% of those live in extreme poverty, defined as less than US$ 1.77 per day per individual [12]
Summary
In Panama, the health research system has been strengthened during recent years by the development of new financing opportunities, promotion of scientific and technological activities, and initiation of human capital training to improve competitiveness. A health research system (HRS) is essential for producing and capturing health-related knowledge to improve the population’s health The significance of these systems was once again recognized at the Latin American Conference on Research and Innovation for Health (Panama, 2011), where some of the central themes discussed included the importance of analyzing HRSs in order to strengthen these systems and optimize. In Panama, the mechanisms for managing the national science, technology, and innovation (ST&I) system have recently been remodeled, developing new financing opportunities, promoting scientific and technological activities, and initiating human capital training to improve competitiveness [2] While these actions help to strengthen the Panamanian HRS, aligning this system’s efforts with the population’s health needs is a significant challenge. The lack of a contextual analysis is, perhaps, one of the most evident reasons why the decision-making process to advance the HRS’s functions remains difficult in Panama
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