Strengthening research for health, development, and equity : report from Bamako : Global Ministerial Forum on Research for Health, Bamako, Mali, 17-19 November 2008 = Renforcer la recherche pour la Santé, le Développement et l'Equité / prepared by Beverly Peterson Stearns.

This Report from Bamako is an attempt to give background and insight into the content of the Forum and the documents that emerged from it. It also attempts to capture the spirit of an extraordinary meeting for which so many had prepared for so long. The perspective presented here is drawn from plenary speeches, session presentations, discussions and extemporaneous comments that were made during the three days in Bamako. Some material is based on accounts of sessions from reporters who filed directly to the TropIKA.net website from the conference. The total picture is intended to reflect the problems confronted, solutions proposed, the diversity of ideas and the common themes that ran through the conference. Some of the participants are mentioned here, but certainly not all. It would be impossible record all the contributions and subjects discussed in Bamako or the reams of data on research for health that were presented. The Bamako Call to Action on Research for Health, the Communiqué and the Call for Civil Society Engagement stand as the best expression of the outcome of the meeting. How many of their recommendations are implemented in the near future will be the best measure of success.