The National Health Research Committee (NHRC) convened the 2025 National Research for Health Summit on 28–29 November 2025 in Gauteng, South Africa, as a strategic, multisectoral platform to assess progress, identify persistent and emerging challenges, and chart a forward looking agenda for strengthening the National Health Research System (NHRS) in the context of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, with particular emphasis on SDG-3.
The Summit brought together stakeholders from government, academia, research institutions, civil society,regulatory authorities, industry, and international development partners.The Summit aimed to reflect on gains achieved since previous National Health Research Summits, while critically examining systemic constraints that continue to limit the optimal contribution of research to health system performance and population health outcomes. Deliberations were structured around the five NHRC workstreams: Policy and Strategy; Research Priority Setting; Financing, Human Resources and Infrastructure; Research Translation;and Monitoring and Evaluation.
Proceedings highlighted that, despite South Africa’s relatively mature health research governance framework, significant challenges persist, including heavy reliance on external funding, fragmented research infrastructure, misalignment between research priorities and health system needs, limited community engagement in priority setting, and weaknesses in translating research evidence into policy and practice. Emerging risks related to public health emergencies,
climate related health threats, digital health, and artificial intelligence further underscore the need for adaptive and forward looking research policies.
The Summit generated a set of integrated, actionable recommendations aimed at strengthening domestic financing and human capital development, improving coordination and governance, institutionalising community participation,accelerating research translation, and establishing robust monitoring and evaluation systems. Collectively, these recommendations provide a coherent roadmap to reposition health research as a core enabler of National Health
Insurance (NHI) implementation, health system resilience, equity, and sustainable development in South Africa.
