Parasitic and parachute research in global health

The Lancet Global Health (June 2018)1The Lancet Global HealthClosing the door on parachutes and parasites.Lancet Glob Health. 2018; 6: e593Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (57) Google Scholar wrote an Editorial on fly-in, fly-out researchers and data sharing and invited readers to share their experiences on the topic. The new model for global health partnerships and international research collaborations is closing the door to parachutes and parasites. The biggest funders of health research in Africa, including the EU, through the European & Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP), the Wellcome Trust, the Medical Research Council, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) are more inclined to support long-term collaborative research based on equity between collaborators in North-South consortia. This model is best exemplified by the 2017 call for proposals by the EDCTP in response to research during public health emergencies such as the recent Ebola outbreaks. Two large consortia were funded by EDCTP to do research on emerging and re-emerging epidemics for effective outbreak response.2EDCTPEDCTP contribution to epidemic preparedness: consortia ALERRT and PANDORA-ID-NET.http://www.edctp.org/news/edctp-contribution-epidemic-preparedness-consortia-alerrt-pandora-id-net/Date accessed: July 2, 2018Google Scholar ALERRT (the African coalition for Epidemic Research, Response and Training), is a multidisciplinary consortium consisting of 21 partner organisations from nine African and four European countries, and PANDORA (Pan Africa Network for Rapid Research, Response and preparedness for Infectious Disease Epidemics) is African-led and consists of 24 institutions from nine African and four European countries. EDCTP, together with other major funders of global health research, mandates open data sharing without any unjustified delay. This is especially important during public health emergencies,3Kiley R Peatfield T Hansen J Reddington F Data sharing from clinical trials—a research funder's perspective.N Engl J Med. 2017; 377: 1902-1990Crossref Scopus (46) Google Scholar where rapid access to all available data is a key component of an effective response. WHO recently signed a memorandum of understanding with the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington, WA, USA, to collaborate on the analysis and policy-relevance of global health data.4IHMEWHO and IHME collaborate to improve health data globally.http://www.healthdata.org/news-release/who-and-ihme-collaborate-improve-health-data-globallyDate accessed: July 2, 2018Google Scholar Where possible and appropriate, WHO and IHME will provide support to facilitate negotiations with countries for access to additional data. While data sharing is well recognised as an essential component of equitable research partnerships, it must be emphasised that this will only be of value if the quality of the data being shared is high. With more advanced data collection and analysis systems, Northern institutions are in a better position to secure bigger grants and to collect, analyse, manage, and share large amounts of complex data with greater ease. A concerted effort is required to build data management capacity in Africa as well as modern data infrastructure that can handle large amounts of data. This should be a critical component in collaborative grants going forward and can already be seen with the recent huge financial investment by the BMGF foundation in IHME. EDCTP is also supporting the development of a data management portal to facilitate and promote better data management and sharing of clinical data from EDCTP2-funded clinical trials in Africa.5EDCTPRequest for proposals: ‘Development of a data management portal’ in support of open access to clinical data from EDCTP2-funded clinical trials.http://www.edctp.org/edctp-requests-proposals-development-data-management-portal-support-open-access-clinical-data-edctp2-funded-clinical-trials/Date accessed: July 2, 2018Google Scholar The portal will establish an online resource centre that will enable African clinical trials researchers to have open access to high-quality data and data management tools including manuals on good data management and data sharing. Emerging research leaders in Africa are networked through the EDCTP regional Networks of Excellence and EDCTP Alumni Network incorporating 64 institutions in 21 countries, to enable conversations on cross-cutting and knowledge management issues. More support is needed from other funders to enhance the data management systems in Africa and promote an inclusive and equitable data sharing platform. We declare no competing interests. Closing the door on parachutes and parasitesNo one likes a parachute researcher: the one who drops into a country, makes use of the local infrastructure, personnel, and patients, and then goes home and writes an academic paper for a prestigious journal. At The Lancet Global Health, we look extremely unfavourably on papers submitted by authors who have done primary research in another country (particularly a low-income or middle-income country) but not included any author from that nation. For research involving patient recruitment, treatment in existing facilities, and follow-up, the notion that no locally based individuals made a “substantial contribution” (per authorship criteria) to the acquisition of data is pure fiction. Full-Text PDF Open AccessSecondary analysis and participation of those at the data sourceYour Editorial Closing the door on parachutes and parasites (June 2018)1 offers poignant insight on key issues in authorship of manuscripts resulting from secondary data analysis. As global health researchers who believe in the ethical and scientific imperative to maximise health gains from existing data, we strongly support the need to get this right. The discourse is not only important to develop sound publication practice, but also to promote equity, effectiveness, and sustainability of global health research collaboration.