Some will say that it took us a long time to find our way to Africa and that, whatever the – only too real - complexities of intra- and inter-continental flight connections, surely there must have been a more direct and shortest route from Bangkok to Bamako than going via Mexico, Beijing, and - some even suspect - Geneva. True to say, the journey has been a long one, but it has also been fun, diverse and enriching. Not to mention that, along the way, we all have had to upload, download, transfer, archive, and even read, analyze and synthesize piles of data, statistics, conclusions, recommendations, evidence and references. Granted: it does slow down the pace a bit. But it also has the advantage of giving time and food for thought, metabolizing information, nurturing new ideas, new experiments, raising new questions, and opening up new avenues for research and collaboration.

Now Bamako is beckoning on the horizon, and the whole TropIKA community is revving up for the Algiers meeting which will open in just a week, on 23 June. The preparatory process to the 2008 Global Ministerial Forum on Research for Health, to be held in Bamako, will thus conclude in Algiers with a review of the experience and perspectives of the African region. The meeting in Algiers comes at a time when expectations have been raised among researchers and the health development community. This is after the African Ministers of Health took a strong stand, in Abuja and Accra, as well as within the WHO/AFRO Regional Committee, to advocate increased investment in research for health. From advocacy, the Ministers moved to actual support, deciding that the Algiers Conference would focus on “Narrowing the Knowledge Gap for Africa’s Health” and place emphasis on linking knowledge and policies. So, what comes next can only be more; and better; and exciting…

The forthcoming Conference in Algiers is bound to be interesting. We expect to learn a lot: from the technical papers and the data presented, from what is said and from what is not said; from the interaction among participants; and from the content and scope of the political consensus among the Ministers when they meet on 26 June and formulate The Algiers Declaration which, in Bamako as in other fora, will be heard as representing the “Common African Voice”. Going beyond a declaration of principles, this common statement on behalf of the African Region could provide a powerful platform to negotiate and foster future support for research and health development, at national and international level.

TropIKA will be attending the Algiers Conference live, and on line. Information on sessions, events, proposed recommendations, special viewpoints will be brought to you on TropIKA. Wherever you may be, contribute your comments on line, share your expectations, and use your experience to feed ideas into the debate and shed light on the issues involved.