Partnership between HeDPAC and The University of the West Indies – HEU, Centre for Health Economics to Advance South–South Research Collaboration.

Trinidad and Tobago

The Health Development Partnership for Africa and the Caribbean (HeDPAC) and The University of the West Indies – HEU, Centre for Health Economics (UWI-HEU) are advancing their collaboration to strengthen health research, institutional development, and knowledge exchange across the Caribbean and Africa.

This collaboration builds on the broader Memorandum of Understanding signed between HeDPAC and The University of the West Indies (UWI) in February 2025, which seeks to promote health research and innovation to improve health outcomes in the Caribbean and to facilitate stronger research collaboration with Africa through a South–South partnership.

As part of this cooperation, HeDPAC is supporting UWI-HEU in the establishment of the UWI Multidisciplinary Research Network (UMRN), to be led by UWI-HEU. The Network is intended to strengthen multidisciplinary research collaboration across Africa and the Caribbean, generate evidence-based solutions aligned with shared health priorities, and promote knowledge exchange and institutional partnerships. The initial focus will be on two areas, the Community Health programmes—with particular attention to maternal and child health (MCH), as well as sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR)—and the issue of Human Resources for Health for Africa and the Caribbean.

The partnership will also support the development of an institutional publication entitled “From Vision to Institution—The HEU Story: A Model for Institutional Development and Growth for the Global South.” This documentation will capture the evolution of UWI-HEU from its inception to its current status, highlighting lessons that may inform similar institutional development efforts across Africa and the Caribbean. It will further contribute to knowledge exchange through research dissemination, webinars, workshops, and publications.

This collaboration marks an important step in operationalizing Africa–Caribbean cooperation in health research and institutional development. Through these joint efforts, HeDPAC and UWI-HEU are laying the foundation for deeper collaboration, stronger research systems, and more coordinated responses to shared health challenges across both regions.