November 2016 saw the Academy of Medical Sciences launch a new policy initiative under the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF). At the beginning of the month, in partnership with the Academy of Sciences South Africa, we held a two day policy workshop on multimorbidity in South Africa. The month concluded with a second policy workshop hosted in London on rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) in low and middle income countries (LMICs) in partnership with the Interacademy Partnership for Health. Feedback from participants for both workshops has been extremely positive with a number of outputs agreed upon.
The Academy is looking at global health challenges through a series of policy workshops to consider the evidence base and its implications for policy in relation to those challenges. By working in partnership with national academies in other countries, the Academy is also supporting capacity building for policy activities in LMICs.
The South Africa workshop, Addressing the global challenge of multimorbidity: Lessons from South Africa, considered the burden of multimorbidity in South Africa and the UK and how we can achieve a more coherent and consistent approach to defining, researching and addressing multimorbidity. Participants ranged from academics to government officials to representatives from the private sector. Through plenary and breakout groups, the discussions provided a number of outputs which we hope will guide approaches to tackle this growing problem.
Our GCRF work is also supporting participation of LMIC researchers and academies in the Academy's policy working group on multimorbidity. To learn more about our work in this area, visit our dedicated 'Addressing the global challenge of multimorbidity' policy project page.
In London, the workshop on Improving the development and deployment of rapid diagnostic tests in LMICs brought together experts and evidence to explore the impact of RDTs in low and middle income settings across disease groups. During the meeting participants identified barriers and challenges for developing and implementing RDTs in LMICs. The workshop also explored state-of-the-art platforms and technologies which are currently under development. In doing so it helped to facilitate cross-sector discussion and identify areas which would benefit from greater collaboration. There were representatives from nine LMIC national academies at the workshop, providing a unique insight into some of the challenges and opportunities for RDTs in those countries.
Reports from both workshops will be made available in early 2017 which will summarise the main topics of discussion along with key outcomes from the meetings. We will work with national academies in LMICs to disseminate these messages to policymakers and key stakeholders to ensure maximum impact.