African countries face a disproportionately high burden of infectious and noncommunicable diseases, with over two-thirds of HIV-positive individuals residing in sub-Saharan Africa. It is also estimated that over 85% of deaths from noncommunicable diseases occur in low- and middle-income countries. To address these health issues, it is essential for academic institutions in Africa to strengthen their research capabilities. However, the continent still lags behind others in terms of research output, contributing less than 1% to global research. Although investment in health-related research capabilities is still insufficient, positive changes are underway. For instance, the African Institutions Initiative, a pan-African consortium, aims to build institutional research capacity. The DELTAS Africa programme is another investment aimed at training researchers to publish and lead impactful research relevant to health science, policy, and practice. Additionally, the Human Heredity and Health in Africa (H3Africa) consortium supports African researchers in becoming competitive in genomic science. These investments are intended to assist health authorities in monitoring population health, planning, resource allocation, innovation, and addressing threats like epidemics. This article evaluates one such investment and its contribution to the African population health research agenda.
We conducted an assessment of the Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa (CARTA), which indicates that CARTA is successfully developing high-level research capacities in public and population health in Africa. It contributes to establishing a dynamic African academic community capable of conducting world-class multidisciplinary research with a positive impact on health. Launched in 2008, CARTA aims to build sustainable health research capacity in Africa by training PhD fellows in public and population health and promoting research-supportive environments. Over 290 fellows from seven countries have participated in the programme, producing more than 800 peer-reviewed academic articles. The research areas include infectious diseases, maternal and child health, sexual and reproductive health, and other topics relevant to public and population health, aligning with the region’s disease burden and health system challenges. The output of CARTA fellows offers insights into the status and capacity for public and population health research in African countries.
Our analysis identifies research gaps and offers recommendations for future research. There is less research on noncommunicable diseases compared to TB and HIV, even though the prevalence of noncommunicable diseases is increasing in Africa. Similarly, there are too few studies on neglected tropical diseases in sub-Saharan Africa and infectious diseases like hepatitis B and C, despite their high burden. Additionally, only a small number of fellows have researched violence and injury, and there are no studies on mental health and substance abuse in children and adolescents despite their correlation and burden. The increasing number of published articles by CARTA fellows enhances the health research output of African academic and research institutions. This contextually focused research can provide essential evidence-based information to guide policy and decision-making to address current and future disease burdens and epidemics in Africa. Countries with low research output must continue to build capacity by training more PhDs and creating conducive research environments. African governments should support capacity-building initiatives by prioritizing research funding and addressing the needs of young researchers. Such investments could lead to innovations that solve public health issues. Efforts should consider both the direct costs and the significant in-kind contributions from African institutions and governments. Regular audits of the scope of research topics pursued by scientists are needed to ensure that significant but neglected developmental topics are being investigated.