Need for Research Capacity Building and the role of online courses
As a Global Health Corps fellow, so far I have been involved with research activities , and particularly capacity building. I stay in rural area, where little health information is available. People who live in my neighborhood may have little knowledge of diseases as well as corresponding risk factors. For instance, I doubt if they know that 70% of lung cancer is attributed to smoking, and though they may know that alcohol abuse is a threat to their well-being, the extent of this may not be clear.
The health sector has taken the lead in disease prevention. Healthy behaviors are promoted through various ways. In addition to social marketing via radio programmes, health messages displayed on street boards, such as the billboard promoting sleeping under bed nets to protect against malaria. These prevention messages are based on decades (and sometimes centuries) of health research.
However, the battle at times feels endless. Even diseases believed to have been eradicated can reemerge and programs struggle to effectively deliver proven treatments to those most in need. The dormancy research, particularly in areas most affected, is one source of the problem. Despite being the most hit part, only 10% of health policy and systems research publications between 2003 and 2009 came from developing countries ( Adam et al., 2011) and Africa contributed only 7% of global research output in area of tuberculosis between 1997 and 2006 (Zachariah et al., 2009) . Limited funds are allocated to research activities, shortage of skilled people persists, and the consumption of existing information remains very limited.
The health sector needs people to up-to-date on continuously new findings so as to take informed decisions. This is why there is a need of dedicated people who, through a conducive environment, invest their time, knowledge, skills, to come up with new knowledge and innovative strategies which lead to changes in policies and practices towards the improvements of the health outcomes of the populations. We need more researchers to enable health systems overcome their challenges. But in addition to many challenges already mentioned, there are few training opportunities that offer comprehensive research skills, a critical gap if current research needs are to be met.
In globalized world though, online courses have revolutionized education by overcoming distance barriers, thus leveraging learning opportunities. Online courses enable people to access the knowledge that would be hard to access through traditional models of education. Online courses have the potential to address many of the research training constraints we face in rural Rwanda. First, the student and the instructor do not need to be in the same place. The only place the student needs to be is in a place with internet connection. Second, not only is the need for physically access dissolving, but scheduling challenges are also fading away, thanks to internet revolution. Face-to-face or real-time meetings are not necessary for the class; even discussions are possible without being available at the same time. Another important aspect of online education is its potential impact on gender inequalities. Women particularly in developing countries have been victims of cultural roles that attach them to family activities such as taking care of the children, thus could not pursue studies abroad. With online opportunities however, the disparity of information access between women and men is diminishing. Now they can access high quality courses available through online programmes of respected institutions, which enable them to advance in their careers and contribute to the development in their respective countries.
Personally, I have had opportunities to enroll in to online courses. Over the period from October to November 2013, I enrolled in Global Health: An Interdisciplinary Overview course given by University of Geneva under coursera (coursera.org). As an interdisciplinary, the course provided insights into global health issues- diseases trends and patterns, past achievements and current challenges in terms of prevention, treatment, funding, research and development, etc. Over the course I gained the exposure to various ideas not only from great personalities who have a lot of experience in global health through video presentations, but also from peers through discussion forums. Health reports and health research articles also provided further information in many aspects of global health. Currently I am enrolled in Global Health Research Certificate through Global Health University, and there are many opportunities to explore such as edx.
As shortage of skilled manpower continues to hamper the development of health research in resource-limited settings, online courses offer opportunities not only to acquire skills from reputable institutions, but also to access information that inspires researchers to formulate new questions for investigation towards innovation of new strategies. And if these opportunities are used efficiently, then it will help to leverage current research capacity building effort.