Stakeholders' meeting on strengthening research partnerships for neglected diseases of poverty

Overview

16-18 March 2009: stakeholders meeting, Berlin, Germany

The two-and-a-half-day stakeholders' meeting on strengthening research partnerships for neglected diseases of poverty brought together some 120 participants from Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Latin America, North America and Europe. It was co-sponsored by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and TDR, the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases that is co-sponsored by UNICEF, UNDP, the World Bank and the World Health Organization (WHO). The meeting was held at GTZ Haus in Berlin, Germany, and was co-chaired by Professor Yongyuth Yuthavong, Senior Researcher, National Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, and Former Minister of Science and Technology, Bangkok, Thailand, and Professor Rolf Horstmann, Chairman of the Board and Head of the Department of Molecular Medicine, Bernhard-Nocht-Institute for Tropical Medicine, Hamburg, Germany. Chief rapporteur was Dr Julia Hasler of UNESCO, Paris, France.

Participants included representatives from ministries of health, ministries of science and technology, development agencies, research funding agencies and leaders from technical research institutions. Senior policy-makers among the participants included Dr Magid Yahya Al-Gunaid, Deputy Minister of Primary Health Care in Yemen, Dr Khalid bin Ali Al-Zahrani, Assistant Deputy Minister for Preventive Medicine in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and Dr Maged Moustafa Al-Sherbiny, Assistant Minister for Scientific Research in Egypt.