Use Research Evidence in Health Policy Formulation

Use Research Evidence in Health Policy Formulation

By Justine Wangui ( ScienceAfrica Correspondent)
Email: justinewangui@gmail.com

Prof. Eliya Msiyaphazi Zulu, the executive director of African Institute for Development (AFIDEP) has urged Kenya to strengthen the use of research evidence in health policy formulation by the Parliament and ministry of health. In the presentation of his research during the 5th  KEMRI Annual Scientific and Health (KASH) conference in Nairobi,  Prof Zulu said there is  need to improve priorities in setting and allocating resources to the ministry of health. “Investing in health is of critical importance to Kenyans. The government should pay much attention to the translation of research knowledge to decision makers so as to hit the goal of development,” said Prof. Eliya.

He explained that parliament has a role in budget formulation and planning. " Kenya should pay much attention to research funding and erase the notion of donor research funding from abroad.  The parliament is the main decision maker.  Members of parliament provide valuable oversight role to the executive (government).   They also play a key role in resource allocation."

Mombasa and Nairobi counties have recorded a stronger use of research knowledge capacity in comparison to the rest of the counties in Kenya.  They have already developed a research agenda aimed at bridging the gap between research and policy.

However, challenges include fragmented research evidence, weak local capacity to generate and apply evidence-based policies, production of unwanted evidence, ineffective packaging of evidence and little interests among decision makers. The irrelevancy, weakness and poor packaging of research on the supply side (researchers), and weak institutional infrastructure leadership on the demand side (decision makers) are the reasons behind the low use of research evidence in Kenya.  Prof Zulu recommended effective communication that will effectively interpret research evidence to the end users.  “Kenya should have a knowledge translation platform because  a lot of research has not been brought to the table of decision makers,”  the expert added.

Kenyan policy makers including Members of County Assembly and Members of Parliament are required to have the capacity to understand evidence in research.  They should mobilize communities to use research evidence.  However, Prof Zulu noted that there is improvement in priority setting and resource allocation in Africa for the last fifteen years.  A growing demand for the use of research evidence in the formulation of health policies has also been recorded.

1m Farmers to Access Relevant SMS, Voice Messaging

1m Farmers to Access Relevant SMS, Voice Messaging

By Justine Wangui
Email: justinewanguigmail.com

 A million small holder farmers in six counties- Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Uganda- will promptly access relevant information need to improve productivity and reach consumers or markets through SMS and voice messaging.

This will be done in partnership with GeoPoll – largest real-time mobile survey platform and Control Union - leader in agricultural certifications, food safety, and sustainability. The target is to reach the 1million smallholders in the six nations within five year.With demand for increased transparency from consumers, crops in the target value chains include coffee, cocoa, cotton, palm oil, rice, tea, tobacco and fresh fruits and vegetables.

 “We are pleased to partner with Control Union to improve engagement with smallholder farmers, bringing them increased access to global markets, business opportunities, better data and increased knowledge generated through this partnership will be beneficial for both farmers and ultimately consumers,” said James Eberhard, Founder & CEO of GeoPoll. “Control Union is excited to focus its expertise in supporting smallholder farmers because GeoPoll’s team and platform provides us practical tools to connect with rural farming communities to educate, certify and link them to a global marketplace,” said Johan Maris, Managing Director, Control Union..

Accessing information from the most remote farming communities will facilitate asking and answering consumer questions. Value Chain Monitoring will serve as a tool for sustainable value chain design and monitor social, economic and ecological impact. Initially, the partnership will focus on six the African countries and then expand to Key markets in Asia with Indonesia and Philippines.

New Treatment for cocaine addiction

New Treatment for cocaine addiction

By Justine Wangui (Science Africa correspondent)

justinewangui@gmail.com

A new drug that has the potential to treat cocaine addiction has been discovered. This has been revealed by a recent demonstration of  laboratory cocaine study by a team from the University of Adelaide in South Australia and the University of Colorado, in the United States. The study results concluded that cocaine addiction could be blocked by using the drug naloxone.

 The team leader, Alexis Northcutt, from the Center for Neuroscience at the University of Colorado Boulder affirmed that cocaine interacts with an immune receptor- TLR4 (Toll- Like receptor) to produce a pro-inflammatory effect in the brain.

"We've demonstrated conclusively that cocaine interacts with TLR4 to produce a pro-inflammatory effect in the brain. The effect is necessary to convey the drug's rewarding effects. Without it, reward is greatly reduced," he said, “Combined with our previous work, this suggests that the immune signaling may be a key mechanism underlying the rewarding and reinforcing effects of drugs such as opioids, cocaine, and potentially other abused substances, like methamphetamine and alcohol."

Studies have shown that TLR4 amplifies the addiction to drugs such as heroin but this is the first discovery of TLR4’s key role in cocaine addiction.

"Our previous studies have shown that TLR4 is responsible for amplifying addiction to opioid drugs such as heroin, but this is the first time we've discovered it has a key role to play in cocaine addiction," says Professor Mark Hutchinson, ARC Research Fellow in the University of Adelaide's School of Medical Sciences.

Naloxone is now capable of stopping TLR4 from amplifying addiction by two major drugs."The cocaine study has had the same result, which is unique in itself. We now have two major drugs of addiction that are both being amplified by TLR4, which we can stop through the use of naloxone," says Professor Hutchinson, who is also Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Nanoscale Bio Photonics  at the University of Adelaide.

"These are very exciting and encouraging results. It means that we could potentially see a single intervention for a wide range of addictions in the future," he added.

Source: Jim Plouffe <editorial@theleadsouthaustralia.com.au>