Author Description

This timely publication comes at a time of global interest in promoting the development of appropriate national health research systems in low and middle-income developing countries. It presents the findings of a detailed and systematic situation analysis of the national health research systems in five countries of WHO's Eastern Mediterranean Region: Egypt, Islamic Republic of Iran, Morocco, Pakistan and Sudan. The aim of the study was to pave the way for developing innovative and effective strategies for strengthening national health research systems in the Region. The experience gained will be shared with other countries in the Region and will provide a critical input to WHO's collaboration in the Region in the area of health research in the coming years.