Mission of the PHR Net

The mission of the network is to bring together the human resources and capacities for public health research in Southeastern Europe, from other transitional countries in Europe and from Western EU member states.

To date, there is insufficient research work in countries of Southeast Europe (SEE) targeting the heath consequences of transition and other major determinants of health outcomes. Most of the SEE countries have scarce institutional and professional capacity to conduct and execute high-quality public health research work. Indeed, compared to Western European Union (EU) countries, the relative lack of public health capacity in the SEE region is striking. Nonetheless, the accession process into the EU requires the SEE countries to reconsider and reshape their existing research institutions in line with the current EU standards and best practices. Therefore, there is an urgent need to reconstruct public health research programs and research projects in SEE countries in order to cope with the current public health challenges and improve populations’ health.

The growing awareness and common agreement on the need to strengthen research capacities and enhance funding opportunities for research projects led to establishment of the Public Health Research Network (PHR-Net). Funded by CAPHRI, the first meeting of the PHR-Net was held in Maastricht in April 16-17, 2009 under the auspices of the Department of International Health (DIH; Chair: Prof. Helmut Brand), Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Maastricht University (UM). The meeting was attended by representatives from seven SEE countries (namely Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia and Slovenia). The main topics discussed in the first PHR-Net meeting included public health research priorities in the SEE region, assessment of public health research capacities, and exploration of funding opportunities for research work in the SEE region.

As a result of the meeting, a core group of PHR-Net was established consisting of one participant from each SEE country (referred to as “ad nominem national focal points”) and two members from DIH. It was decided that the Secretariat of the PHR-Net will be based near the DIH. The network established a comprehensive list of both short-term (up to the end of 2009) and mid-term (2010-2012) research projects based on a balance between public health regional priorities on the one hand, and feasibility and funding availability in SEE countries on the other.

The research vision of the PHR-Net is to investigate and explore the potential for improvement of the population’s health in SEE countries and other transitional countries in Europe by research into the public health evidence of interventions. The mandate of the network is to bring together the human resources and capacities for public health research in SEE region, from other transitional countries in Europe, and from Western EU member states.

The newly established PHR-Net, coordinated by the staff members of DIH, UM, will be an invaluable setting to promote, provide guidance and support different research activities and research projects in SEE countries.