Saeed Anwar

Peshawar Medical College, Peshawar, Pakistan

KEC MADINAH AS HEALTH RESEARCH HUB

(HRH)

Why Health Research Hub (HRH)?Madinah aspires to regain the lost status as City of Great

Knowledge & Economic Activity by becoming modern day Knowledge Economic City (KEC)

Research as systematic process of generating and/or value adding knowledge is linked with knowledge part of the KEC, whereas, Health is connected to quality of life, productivity and economic activity – the economic part of the KEC

Hence understandably Madinah as a Muslim Sanctuary need

to be developed as HRH of Muslim Ummah. Muslim Countries around the world owe allegiance to Madinah and may be conveniently related to HRH Madinah as its Spokes. It’s mutually symbiotic and therefore potentially sustainable

Objectives of HRH1. Establish a Health Research Hub (HRH) at KEC Madinah (to

which various R&D Disciplines related Centers of Excellence, spread throughout Muslim countries shall be related as its Spokes) with the objects of:

institutionalizing medical & health research focused on generating evidence to highlight the impact of Islamic living (thoughts, values & practices) on physical, mental & social health

create a resource for evolving & communicating consultation based consensus Islamic standpoint on classical, contemporary and emerging health and social issues & problems

HRH: Objectives …

2. To generate, manage & translate knowledge into development by evolving mechanisms for human and institutional development particularly in the Muslim world

3. To develop HRH as one of the lead learning organization in global health research and development

4. To create awareness and ownership among developing Muslim world countries for the KEC Madinah & HRH

HRH: Developing a Framework1. Situational analysis

PESTE (political, economic, socio-cultural, technological and environmental) analysis to: - review the current status, capabilities, challenges & risks likely to be encountered while developing the HRH at KEC Madinah

- identify factors that may act as potential strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to the initiative at local, national and international levels

Framework …2. Respecting & Maintaining the Non-controversial

sacred status of Madinah by: Due representation at HRH of the stakeholders/ scientists

from various schools of thought Empowered, participatory and consultative work styles at

policy, strategic and operational levels Culture of tolerance & respect for differences of opinion Institutionalizing openness to reach out consensus

decisions through evidence based dialogue & discourse- Equitable distribution of R&D benefits among Muslim Ummah

Framework …

3. Sustainability Identifying and bringing in the best Muslim talent

in various disciplines (creating HR Directories of Muslim Ummah)

Capacity building for R&Da) utilizing the existing talents for R&D activities on

one hand, and capacity building of the team members on the other together with knowledge & skills updating mechanisms for all

b) broadening the capacity base by adding new expertise, areas & sub areas

c) Integrating R&D studies into undergraduate & postgraduate student curricula

d) Developing partnerships with public & private sectors for R&D

e) Encouraging multi-center, multi-ethnic & multi-cultural collaborations for R&D

f) Participation in global health research

Financial Sustainability:The commitment exhibited by KSA for KEC in terms of

massive financial inputs needs to be sustained through burden sharing by Ummah in the form of:- Creating an R&D Fund at HRH- Supporting commercialization of KEC products &

services- Drawing up joint R&D priorities to be meted out of the

Fund

All the activities of R&D Fund need to be Riba free

Continued Commitment:- Attempts at mobilizing all stake holders through:

a) communicationb) fair treatmentc) equitable distribution of R&D benefitsd) agreed mechanisms for conflict prevention & resolution

Need to remember that actions speak louderthan words. Mere location of KEC & HRH at Madinah may not suffice to prevent conflicts

4. Culture of ConsultationConsultation (the Islamic institution of Shoora) is now a

globally recognized tool in R&D functions.It is a facility for:1. Developing new ideas & updating the existing2. Experience sharing that promotes personal, organizational

and social development3. Creating tolerance, trust, participation, and ownership

thus contributing to sustainability4. Better communication and context understanding to

prevent and resolve conflictsConsultation needs to be institutionalized at KEC to harvest

its ceaseless benefits

5. Defining Roles & Responsibilities The respective roles of HRH and its Spokes must be

very clear for:- Smooth operation- Efficiency & effectiveness- Coordination & integration- Conflict prevention

6. Ensuring Organizational Dynamism:An organizational setup based on ‘functional integration yet administrative Decentralization’ is expected to create a dynamic system with certain degree of autonomy and flexibility to makemanagement responsive to local needs and context

7. Knowledge Management Knowledge generated by HRH needs to be

translated into development. This will require designing and establishing proper ICT based system of knowledge management

The most important

Sanctity of Holy City of Madinah must be respected and maintained at all costs. The religious, socio-cultural, environmental and e-pollution related

hazards need to be safeguarded against at outset and later throughout

Acknowledgements

Prof. Najibul Haq, Dean Peshawar Medical College (PMC), Pakistan

Prof. Hafeez -ur- Rahman, Vice Dean Academics, PMC

Dr Ayesha S. Abdullah, Vice Dean Medical Education & Research, PMC

Dr Tahir Nadeem Khan, Director M&E, DoH, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Pakistan