Box 1 The priority themes of the national research agenda in Ghana

1) Communication and community participation

Specific needs: health education approaches in Ghana, beliefs relating to health and prevention, evaluation of existing communication approaches and related interventions in the field of the Priority Health Service Interventions, piloting community involvement in policy formulation, planning, implementation and evaluation at district level and institutionalizing community involvement

2) Quality of health-care

Specific needs: staff attitude, referral system, assurance of technical skills of providers, drugs and logistics management and monitoring and confronting anti-microbial resistance

3) Financing of health-care

Specific needs: managing internally generated funds, improving management, formal and informal charges, pricing of drugs and services, introducing standardized pricing, comparative prices in private and public sectors, exemptions, especially for the poorest and most vulnerable, and culturally and gender-sensitive mechanisms to target the truly indigent and most vulnerable clients

4) Decentralization of health-care

Specific needs: multi-sector coordination, integrating funding, balancing national and local priorities