Operational research in support of antiretroviral therapy scale-up. Lessons learnt workshop and product development team meeting 7-9 July 2008
Abstract
In 2004, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR) began to develop an operational research (OR) process in support of the scaling-up of antiretroviral therapy (ART). After an expert consultation in July 2004, involving participants from various countries and disciplinary backgrounds, three guiding principles of the research were established: a multidisciplinary approach, country ownership of the activities and links to implementation and policy.
At a workshop in December 2004, five selected country teams – from Burkina Faso, Malawi, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania and Zambia – began to develop research proposals aimed at examining ART scale-up among HIV patients and HIV-infected health-care workers. Following data collection, analysis and documentation of the results, country reports were reviewed in early 2008. In July 2008, a three-day meeting was held in Geneva, Switzerland, bringing together members of the research teams, WHO and TDR staff, and members of the Product Development Team who had guided the country research.
This meeting report summarizes the findings from the country OR projects, reviews the lessons learnt in the research and reflects on how to take the OR agenda forward.
Citation
World Health Organization, Geneva. ISBN: 978 92 4 159876 7, 48 pp.
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