Combining health and social protection measures to reach the ultra ...

InnovationTowards the development of aHealth Innovation Strategy forSouth AfricaArticle by Glaudina LootsSouth Africa is currently at a significant set of crossroadsdue to the great need for health innovation to combatthe tremendous health challenges in our diversesociety. The health needs should be addressed in such a waythat the serious inequalities of our society at large areencompassed and negated. This means that the medicationthat is developed should be appropriate, accessible andculturally acceptable to the population. This issue then needsto take into account various major challenges such asappropriate health medication, health infrastructure and alsoappropriate needs-oriented research. This article will give abroad and brief overview of the progress towards theestablishment of a Health Innovation Strategy for South Africafrom the perspective of the South African national governmentDepartment of Science and Technology.The meaning and need for a HealthInnovation StrategyThe continuous need for new drugs, vaccine and diagnosticsand new processes in engineering and manufacturing, as wellas new approaches to health systems and services withindeveloping countries 1 is driving the need for the developmentof health innovation strategies. Within this context there is aneed for an overarching framework that can facilitate thisprocess – this is where an appropriate Health InnovationStrategy fits into the picture.An area of global concern is that only 10% of the globalhealth research and development budget is being spent on90% of the global health problems 2 . This unequal flow ofresources has since been referred to as the “10/90 gap”.Health in the developing countries is no longer the concern ofthe developed countries; however, there is growing recognitioninternationally that the health of more than 80% of the worldis a matter of concern to all who inhabit this world. One of thecrucial factors responsible for this “10/90” gap is the lack ofintegration of health research into national and internationalresearch systems.India, Brazil, China and South Africa are currently seen asthe leading innovative developing countries. Of the four, SouthAfrica’s Health Research and Development (R&D) budgetas a percentage of public health expenditure is the lowest andfalls behind that of India and Brazil. For South Africa to be onpar with the other three countries, a concerted effort needs tobe made to increase the government R&D expenditure.It is increasingly being recognized that health research existswithin the broader context of research systems which, in turn,function within the specific socio-political and economiccontext of the relevant country 3 .Similarly, health innovation systems operate within a givencountry’s education, manufacturing, research anddevelopment system – guided, naturally, by regulatorysystems, intellectual property policies and market forces,domestically and internationally.It is within this complex context that the South Africangovernment and, in particular, the Department of Science andTechnology, is engaged in establishing a national frameworkthat will enable research, development and innovation.Research, development and innovationwithin the South African contextThe National Research and Development Strategy (2002) 4(NRDS) in South Africa was adopted by Parliament as astrategy geared towards the establishment of the necessaryenabling environment. The NRDS recognizes the complexinterplay and the synergies that can be created through coordinationbetween sector specific research systems and theNational System of Innovation that includes the universities,the various national science councils, government and theprivate sector.The NRDS sees the Department of Science and Technology(DST) playing a strong role with regard to health research andhealth technology in South Africa. Health-related researchshould soften the devastation caused by diseases.The NRDS recognizes that the following issues, althoughnot exhaustive, should form the core of the health researcheffort:✜ Understanding the social impact of disease.✜ Creating an environment and technologies to reduce theeffect of poverty on the spread of disease.✜ Developing care and support strategies.✜ Understanding the challenges in providing access toprevention and care measures.✜ Developing innovative preventative strategies.✜ Developing novel therapeutic regimes, including theutilization of indigenous knowledge.✜ Developing preventive and therapeutic HIV/AIDS vaccines.076 ✜ Global Forum Update on Research for Health Volume 4