Question : Did the Global Ministerial Forum on Research for Health, Bamako2008 which met 17-19 November 2008, meet your expectations?
he Oumar Ibrahima Touré : The Forum was a success. The Bamako Call to Action will promote and enhance research for health in a way that has never existed in the past. You really have to congratulate the organizers, because the forum was excellent and the dialogue was very fruitful.
Question: During the IGW- Intergovernmental Working Group on Public health, Innovation and Intellectual Property-, the AFRO region group notably led by Kenya has played a leading role, and the issues such as intellectual property rights concerns of the poor around the world, in fact, ¾ l mankind is directly affected, were examined here at the Forum during the Ministerial discussions…
he Oumar Ibrahima Touré: This question concerns the entire world and especially Africa. So, actually, the Bamako Call refers to the Strategy document of the IGWG on Public Health, Innovation and Intellectual Property. The Call adopted by the country representatives gathered here shows that there was an awakening. The document will be submitted to the Executive Board of the World Health Organization in January. Mali was appointed to carry this message on the IGWG. This is to affirm the leadership of Africa in global health.
Question : What do you think of participation in the Forum?
he Oumar Ibrahima Touré: The case of the USA is worth mentioning because of the importance of their presence. I spoke directly with the delegation, which was quite large since there were 14 people, including the Deputy Director of NIAID, Hugh Auchincloss; at the Forum there was also a significant delegation from Canada and other partners.
On the other hand, the Director of the Pasteur Institute, Alice Dautry, was not accompanied by anyone representing the Government of France, and it is the health adviser at the Embassy of France in Mali, which has participated in the inter-governmental meetings. This meagre commitment of France has disappointed us. We hope that in future France will commit herself to research with Mali.
Question : Many participants were impressed by the example of North-South collaboration given by the ICER, the International Centers for Excellence in Research, could you comment?
he Oumar Ibrahima Touré : The three research centers: Malaria - Tuberculosis and HIV - and vaccines, are models of North-South collaboration because the research is very high level, especially with Professor Doumbo Ogobara who is internationally renowned in the field of malaria; as well with the CVD - Center for Vaccine Development- which is headed by Professor Samba Ousmane Sow, and the Unit on HIV and tuberculosis.
Excellent Malien researchers are trained here and in the USA and this is going so well that they are all returning to work our country without any exception, as Professor Doumbo rightly said during the session.
We also have very good researchers at the CNAM, National Center against the disease and at the MRTC.
The research is done from the bottom up, in the sense that the research starts in the field and from the needs of people. The task is to do what the people want.
Question : And what of South-South collaboration, has this event borne fruits?
he Oumar Ibrahima Touré: We are also developing close relations in research partnership with China. From this meeting, new opportunities for South-South cooperation in research for health have emerged as well as potential for triangular collaboration on projects, for example with the Brazilians -I met the delegation, many of whom spoke French, and the Fiocruz Foundation will send a team here - there may be possibilities of triangular cooperation with the Institut Pasteur in Paris, Brazil and us.
Among the cases of triangular cooperation already underway, we may also mention the collaboration between South Africa, Cuba and Mali on blindness. Possibly other actions may be considered as the Global Forum for Health Research that will be held in Havana in November 2009. Also on reproductive health, there is an agreement for collaboration between Spain, Tunisia and Mali.
Q: Dr Sally Davis, R&D Director in the Dept of Health of the UK and advisor to the WHO World Alliance for Patient Safety chaired a parallel session on patient safety, which is close to my heart, I am working on the steering committee of the "Patients" branch of the World Alliance for Patient Safety. Do you follow this issue of patient safety research?
he Oumar Ibrahima Touré : With regard to patient safety, our active commitment is already evident with the Hospital ‘Point G’ playing a role model on the protocol of hand washing to reduce nosocomial infections, since we now know that patients contract infections during their hospital stay, we are developing collaborations with experts from several countries like Switzerland, France and Tunisia.
I went to Yaoundé for the meeting of the African region on Patient Safety last September and on that occasion Mali has obviously requested more effort in the fight against nosocomial infections by signing the commitment. Mali has a pioneering role since it is the only country to have, in Africa, made the experience on hand washing.
Question : Representatives from RIPAQS, -the International Network for the Improvement of Quality and Safety of care - are these days in Burkina Faso and Côte d'Ivoire to consider a summit on nosocomial infections. Would you be willing to participate in this initiative? Since the regional meeting in May in Guinea, control activities have been initiated, and training should be developed in each country, yesterday in Côte d'Ivoire, soon in Mali and a regional event in planed in Senegal in March for a meeting Francophone West Africa with Professor Babacar N'Doye ...
he Oumar Ibrahima Touré : As we are already leaders and already experienced in patient safety, any effort to reduce nosocomial infections are important to us at the highest point, and Mali would be quite ready to, again, host a meeting at government level on nosocomial infections and patient safety.
Question : The Global Forum for Health Research realizes that the implementation of the Bamako Call will require monitoring on a commitment to save 2% of health budget in research and 5% of research for health. We plan for a Report Card. So it must have accurate data and not just large estimates, and include areas of Research for Health, such as water, for example.
The Global Forum has committed funding for a project with Afristat to understand how to measure the financial flows in health research. Besides Mali, targeted countries are Cameroon and Burkina Faso.
he Oumar Ibrahima Touré : You see, there too, that Mali is ready to be a leader because one cannot say that many countries in the world publish the figures that would monitor their engagement! My ministry will work of course - by our Planning and Statistics - pleased with the teams Afristat and the Global Forum for Health Research, without which we would not have had the initiative of the call.
Question : I noticed the architectural model of the Maison de la Recherche
he Oumar Ibrahima Touré : We are very pleased to launch this project as successful and somehow remember this Ministerial Forum in the form of the Maison de la Recherche. However, we should undertake several initiatives to find funding to launch. Mali is the only country to have thought to house under one roof researchers from various disciplines in a welcoming ‘Maison’ equipped with latest technology.
