The Cabinet Secretary for health Dr. Cleopa Mailu has reiterated the fact that research still holds a vital position in the country’s plans. He said this at a symposium held in Nairobi, marking 50 years of collaboration between Kenya and Japan in Science and Technology. “The Ministry of Health is committed to and shall continue to support health research and the use of good research evidence for policy formulation and practice,” he said. He added that research is a main component when it comes to determining a country’s decisions, “As a Ministry, we use research based evidence to develop high impact health policies,” he said.
The country has experienced significant development in the health sector and this has been as a result of embracing not only new methods of treatment, but also research, something which Kenya has benefited from its productive partnership with Japan.
According to the Cabinet Secretary, the partnership has helped in the field of research, and he insisted research is not limited to a select few, but anyone who wants to do research should apply and seek assistance from the health ministry, provided he or she attains the set standards. This however does not diminish the role of already established researchers, who have been pivotal in medical advances not only in Kenya but in the whole region. However they have been urged to come up with productive work, “I wish to challenge researchers to ensure that their work is relevant to our country’s health priorities and to provide quality evidence that is accessible, timely and well packaged for Policy makers to utilize for accelerating development in Africa,” he said.
On the issue of Kenya being able to deal with specific diseases throughout the years, he noted that more attention had been given to communicable diseases, instead of the upsurge in non-communicable diseases. He added that Kenya has the capacity to deal with drug resistant TB, insisting that science has the capacity to catch up with any gradual changes. The Cabinet Secretary was also keen to highlight various fruits of the collaboration with Japan in the medical research field, among them being the Parasitology Research study, the Diarrheal diseases study and the Maternal and child health study.
