The Mexico Summit on Health Research 2004: Medical community in developing countries has duty to promote healthcare research

doi:10.1136/bmj.330.7488.421-a

BMJ 2005;330:421 (19 February), doi:10.1136/bmj.330.7488.421-a

Letter

The Mexico Summit on Health Research 2004

Medical community in developing countries has duty to promote healthcare research

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR—Abbasi's editorial on the Mexico Summit on HealthResearch 2004 aptly emphasises the significance of formulatingand implementing national health research agendas.¹ Althoughthis is essential for rich and poor governments alike, it iseven more imperative for developing countries to devise appropriateresearch strategies to reduce child mortality, prevent infectiousdiseases, and combat AIDS. The medical communities in thesecountries should take an active part and adopt reforms withinthe medical system to face the above challenges.

Unlike in developed countries, research is neither integratedinto the medical curriculum nor considered to be part of routinemedical practice. Medical students seldom have the opportunityto undertake research; the training solely emphasises providinghealth care to individual patients but fails to appreciate thesignificance of research in enhancing the wellbeing of society.There is no structured career path to encourage clinicians toundertake medical research, clinician-scientists being crucial. . . [Full text of this article]

Stuart Enoch, PhD surgical research

Wound Healing Research Unit, Cardiff University, Hospital of Wales, Cardiff CF14 4UJ enochstuart@hotmail.com