By 2045, an estimated 70% of all non-communicable disease cases will be in low- and middle-income countries, yet the Horn of Africa region—Somaliland, Somalia, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Djibouti—lacks the trained researchers and policymakers needed to tackle them. Poverty, climate change, and weak health systems compound the problem. Skilled workers are scarce, infrastructure is poor, and policies are inadequate. Where expertise does exist, researchers and policy workers operate in isolation, making their efforts ineffective. This network aims to break that isolation. The project will establish a formal collaboration between UK researchers and their counterparts across the Horn of Africa. It will run training programmes and agenda-setting meetings for researchers, policymakers, and community groups. It will also produce a working document and launch an online platform to coordinate the network’s activities. If successful, the network could lead to a permanent regional centre for health system research. That would mean better prevention and management of diabetes, heart disease, and cancers in a region where health systems are currently ill-equipped to handle them.
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The prevalence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) is increasing globally, and particularly in low-and-medium-income countries (LMICs) where it has been estimated that about 70% of all NCD cases will reside by 2045 (1). The case in the horn of Africa (HoA) region (Somaliland/Somalia, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Djibouti) is particularly worse due to poverty, climate change and many system-related challenges (such as lack of skilled workers, poor infrastructure, insufficient health care facilities and lack/inadequacy of policies) (2,3). Our ongoing work within the region indicates that policy makers and researchers are not properly trained to identify health system challenges and to implement effective interventions for the prevention and management of NCDs (3,4). Where expertise are available, researchers and policy workers work in isolation, making their efforts ineffective. As part of efforts to strengthen health systems for effective prevention and management of NCDs in the region, we propose the establishment of a network between researchers in the UK and across HoA to facilitate the sharing of best practices, collaboration, mentorship, cross-fertilisation of idea, and, in the future, the establishment of a regional centre for health system research. Funding requested through this application will be used to commence these activities. We will organise a series of training programmes and idea generation/agenda-setting meetings for researchers, policy makers and community-interest groups in HoA, produce a working-document and launch an online platform for the coordination of the Network's activities.
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