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THE HEALTH RESEARCH UNIT
www.hru-ghs.org
The government of Ghana has for a long time supported health research
activities in the country. This support is based on the recognition
that health is vital to social and economic development and that re-search can contribute to improving
health status.
However, before this growing recognition
of the need to utilise research to guide
policy and action, the Ministry of Health (MOH) as an institution, con-ducted very little research on
its own. The MOH had instead limited its role
to service delivery with little or no systematic
attention to research activities.
The Health Research Unit (HRU) was
created to address the broad needs of the MOH to utilise research and stimulate relevant
research on priority issues. The
HRU is a unit within the Policy Planning
Monitoring and evaluation (PPME) of the Ministry of Health. It has an 18-member advisory committee
and a facilitators network throughout the country. It encourages collaborative research
with other MOH divisions, universities
research institutions and donor agencies.
The HRU also operates three re-search stations at Navrongo, Dodowa
and Kintampo, which serve as further conduits for the conduct of research.
The unit has the role of setting research
standards and priorities, directing MOH
funded research, co-ordinating and disseminating
research and constituting steering committees for research.
It's aim and objectives include assisting the Ministry in setting priorities ac-cording
to its research needs. It also delegates research to suitable institutions and
assist research professionals and
other health staff in developing re-search projects. Aside this,
the HRU also organises health research training courses, serves as a documentation centre and
disseminates relevant research results to decision makers in Ministry of Health
and other related ministries.
The secretariat, which solicits funding for research from International donors
and national Organisations, also hosts
the secretariat of the National research
Advisory Committee. Since its inception in 1990, the HRU has undertaken
numerous research activities and has served as a useful bridge linking re-search to
policy and programme development.
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The Role of (HRU)
The role of the HRU extends to four main domains
of activity:
§ Setting of research standards and priorities. Issues in the
priority for research and quality of research are within the mandate
of the unit. In this role the HRU articulate what the GHS believes
researchers ought to be doing. It neither enforces this standard
or constrains researchers to conform to a particular agenda, but
it articulates what the GHS regards as appropriate priorities.
§ Directing GHS funded research. The GHS it self will obligate
funds for research on its own internal priority issues. For this
the HRU will review protocols comments on designs, and provide a
direct supervisory role.
§ Coordinating and disseminating research through a variety
of mechanisms. The HRU is the unit of the GHS designed to encourage
researchers in the universities, nongovernmental organizations,
and intersectorial ministries to undertake research activities in
priority areas. Similarly, it is the unit of the GHS that monitors
such research ‘and assists in communicating results to the
GHS and fostering research utilization
§ Constituting research steering committees. Working groups,
steering committees and task forces will be constituted for priority
research programs focused on a particular problem, but involving
several separate coordinated research projects.
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Areas of Research
Two areas of research are coordinated by the HRU:
§ Basic or Biomedical Research. The biomedical research
coordination is the least pursued at the moment. The legal agency
in the conduct of biomedical research is the Noguchi Memorial Institute.
The Director of HRU serves on its management Board and the Institute
uses one of the field stations developed by the HRU for its field
research in Dangbe West.
§ Applied Research:- Coordination of applied research
concern priority issues involving:
o Epidemiological studies
o Socio cultural and Anthropological studies
o Health economics and financial studies
o Population planning and policy analysis, and
o Strategic for health communication and information.
Aims and Objective of HRU
GO TO TOP
The HRU was established to undertake the following activities:
§ Assist the GHS in setting priorities according to the research
needs of the GHS
§ Delegate research to suitable institution and follow up progress
and results.
§ Assist research professionals and other health staff in developing
research proposals
§ Organise health systems training courses
§ Serve as a documentation center for health system research
§ Aims to improve the dissemination of relevant research results
to health decision-makers in the GHS, and in the field
§ Conduct health system research |
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