The program purpose was to generate, disseminate and promote the use of relevant knowledge that will enhance the efficient management and use of various health technologies and frameworks. The program aimed at contributing to increasing knowledge on the acquisition and use of technologies for the efficient management of the health care systems, to improve national, regional and global policy environments, and to empower grassroots communities and other actors in the system by providing new knowledge and building capacities on how to tap and use this new knowledge to improve healthcare access and delivery.

Specific Goals

More specifically, the program applied the National Innovation Systems (NIS) framework with an aim to meeting following goals:

1. Goal A – To strengthen policies for healthcare technology management and assessment: It was intended that various case studies conducted under this program will elucidate the various weaknesses and strengths in the healthcare systems. These will be used to make policy recommendations and interventions to strengthen the systems.
2. Goal B – To strengthen National AIDS coordinating institutions: The important role of linkages and interactions/collaborations and partnerships will be the guiding principle in assessing how the national AIDS control agencies are conceptualized and structured in Africa. The assessments under this program will find out how the agencies work/do not work together with other relevant players/actors in the national systems. From these, recommendations as well as capacity building interventions will be designed.
3. Goal C – To reduce the incidence of HIV/AIDS through ICTs and related technologies. The ICT revolution has taken root in many African countries largely the urban settings. HIV/AIDS awareness campaigns have been conducted using these ICT (and related) technologies such as short text messages (SMS) via mobile telephony. Rural Africa however faces a different set of challenges and this program intends to popularize the use of ICTs to reduce incidences of HIV/AIDS in rural African settings as well
4. Goal D – To enhance the use of pyrethrum and indigenous plants for the management of malaria. This goal attempted to blend (local) traditional knowledge with modern science/knowledge in combating malaria and other diseases.

The HTP were has so far produced 29 publications with more publications form the case studies forthcoming in 2009. A full copy of the final technical report is available at the ATPS Secretariat.

Program output

1. Kaya, Hassan O. (2007). Promotion of Public Health Care Using African Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Implications for IPR: Experiences from Southern and Eastern Africa. ATPS Special Paper Series No. 30
2. Lantum, Daniel Noni (2007). The Place of Policy in Applied Health Care and Technology with Special Reference to African Traditional Medicine by. ATPS Special Paper Series No. 31
3. Pillay, Rubin (2007) A Framework for the Strategic Analysis and Management of the Brain Drain of African Health Professionals: An Innovation Systems Approach. ATPS Special Paper Series No. 32
4. Ndung’u, Margaret N. (2007) ICTs and Health Technology at the Grassroots Level in Africa. ATPS Special Paper Series No. 33 
5. The 2nd African Regional Youth Congress Report on Science and Technology – 2006 Youth
6. 2005 ATPS Annual Conference and Workshop on Science, Technology and Health Innovation Systems Report, Mombasa, Kenya (2006) congress
7. 2005 African Regional Youth Congress and Exposition on Youth Employment/Wealth Creation: Opportunities in Agriculture, Science and Technology and Youth Leadership For HIV/AIDS Prevention.2005-Youth-Congress-Report.pdf
8. ATPS Newsletter.  January to July 2008:  Issue Number 23
9. Bowman, W., B. W. Bell, Jr and M. Nyambura Ndung’u (In Press) Regulating Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) for Africa’s Development: E-Health in Perspective. NEPAD Peer Reviewed Science, Technology and Innovation for Public Health in Africa

Other Resources

Health Technology Policy Concept Note(pdf)

Health Technology Policy Program activities(pdf)

Programme participants (pdf)

Programme grants(pdf)