Research Information:FOCUS ON AFRICA Mentoring support aids mental health research in Somalia


Jibril Handuleh is a physician, researcher and lecturer in Somalia. He joined INASP’s AuthorAID community in 2012 and the mentor programme and resources helped him to publish 15 papers in international journals. ‘Somalians with psychiatric disorders are often stigmatised, abused and literally imprisoned in their homes. Mentally ill people can become a huge burden, as families don’t know how to deal with severely disturbed or violent relatives. Many are chained up or put into prison in order to control them. ‘Even when they receive medical help, patients are often misdiagnosed with exclusively physical rather than psychiatric conditions. Bipolar and schizophrenic Somalians are commonly presumed to have typhoid fever, and therefore mistakenly prescribed antibiotics that are both expensive and ineffective.


‘During my training, the university in my hometown of Borama had no local teaching


highly regarded, and people are more likely to read and cite papers in highly regarded journals. There are other issues that can have bias towards the developed world – things like attendance at international conferences, invitations to participate in peer review, media coverage of research, language; and stereotypes. In many places, women face particular challenges in establishing and maintaining research careers. This is something that INASP is looking to help address. Earlier this year, a group


‘It also helped me draft and edit a paper, submit it to a journal, and get it published. Within two years, I had papers accepted at three conferences and was able to publish over 15 articles in academic journals, two of which were accepted by leading international mental health journals.


Jibril Handuleh (centre) and colleagues discussing cases at a mental health clinic in Borama, Somalia


staff or exams in psychiatry, despite the fact that two of every five Somalians are estimated to suffer from mental health problems. ‘AuthorAID is a key resource in my attempts to communicate the challenges and successes of African healthcare provision. While beginning to publish my first paper, AuthorAID helped me secure access to online literature and research funding – crucial in a country like Somalia where academic infrastructure and the internet itself are weak.


of female researchers from Tanzania and Ghana joined INASP staff at the Gender Summit Africa in South Africa. Some of these researchers tell their research stories here (see box: Female researchers). In August we are supporting the University of Dodoma, Tanzania to run a three- day workshop to help female researchers with the particular challenges they face.


Africa is a continent of 54 states, each with variations in history, culture, GDP and approach to research. The challenges and priorities for


‘I recently won admission to an MSc in International Health at Germany’s Heidelberg University. My studies will focus on public health training in low- and middle-income countries that receive aid from the German government. Somalia has the world’s highest maternal mortality in the world, and among the highest infant mortality. I hope to use the MSc as a platform for making lasting changes to these inequalities.’


Many early-career researchers in Africa and elsewhere have been supported by mentors through AuthorAID. To register for such support or to find out about volunteering as a mentor please visit www.authoraid.info.


different countries vary too, which is why local research, whether it is in agriculture, energy or health, is so important.


Siân Harris is communications coordinator of INASP FURTHER INFORMATION


INASP www.inasp.info AuthorAID www.authoraid.info Africa Journals Online www.ajol.info Publishers for Development www.pubs-for-dev.info


many nutrient deficiencies and promote better life outcomes.


‘The main challenges will be research funding and gender issues. My plans for the future is to pursue further studies in my area of expertise (PhD in nutrition and food science) to enhance my chances of winning more research proposals and also to enhance my career prospects.’


Gloria Boafo-Mensah is a research scientist at the Institute of Industrial Research (CSIR) in Accra, Ghana, researching energy- efficient cooking.


‘The main theme for my research is energy efficiency (improved cook stoves and


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‘The main challenge faced by researchers in Ghana is that we rely on donor funds or personal funds to conduct research.


energy audits). The aim is to get a standard benchmark of efficiency for improved cook stoves in Ghana, such that only cook stoves of a certain efficiency would be allowed in to the country. This is to help reduce indoor air pollution associated with some stoves and also help save our forest which is dwindling because of its use as fuel for these stoves.


Inefficient stoves use more fuel compared to efficient ones.


‘Energy audits are also conducted for industries and institutions in the country to help them cut down on waste in their electricity consumption and also recommend other renewable alternatives like solar. This has become necessary as the country is currently experiencing power outage problems.


‘The main challenge faced by researchers in Ghana is that we rely on donor funds or personal funds to conduct research. The government does not allocate funds for research; it only pays the salaries of the researchers.’


AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2015 Research Information 19


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