45th Session of the Advisory Committee on Health Research (ACHR) of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). Report to the Director, 2012

Abstract

[Introduction]: The 45th Session of the Advisory Committee on Health Research (ACHR) took place at McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, 17 – 19 October 2012. The main goal of the 45th Session was to provide input and recommendations to help the Secretariat prepare a first draft of the Strategy and Plan of Action (SPoA) for the Policy on Research for Health (CD49/10). The two and a half day gathering of the Committee was preceded by virtual meetings of the ACHR Chair (John Lavis), Secretary (Luis Gabriel Cuervo) and staff to craft the agenda. The organizing teams at McMaster University and the ACHR Secretariat scheduled preparatory meetings in February 2012 and incorporated side events—all of which were carried out successfully. Thank you to the McMaster Health Forum staff for the terrific coordination of the meeting. The staff prepared a rough “working document” of a SPoA (attached) to structure the discussion around key elements of the Policy, plus updates on the progress made in the Policy implementation. Additional documentation, including a spreadsheet that links the research policy to other policies and SPoAs, complement the Meeting’s main documents...