Table 1 SWOC analysis of pharmaceutical research in Lebanon
Strengths - The pharmaceutical workforce is willing to contribute to research - Some researchers are working on pharmaceutical topics and becoming increasingly active - Researchers have access to internal funds from their institutions and sometimes international funds - Many academic institutions offer research-related master’s degrees with good research practice and methods taught - Many assessment projects related to pharmaceutical research are being conducted - Can we discuss that researchers in Lebanon have good collaborations with international research teams? -Good visibility of researchers in international conferences/meetings? | Opportunities - The implementation of the National Pharmaceutical Strategy is pending - Many academic and hospital institutions require research in their accreditation standards - Funding by international agencies is available for Lebanese researchers but might need to be consolidated - The pharmaceutical research culture is being promoted in many institutions, but it needs consolidation, especially to expose potential young researchers (students, research assistants, etc.) - Interprofessional Education and Collaboration (IPE/IPC) research should be implemented - There is a need for more collaboration within the same majors/domains (between research teams or laboratories of the same institution, for example) |
Weaknesses - Researchers’ workforce in Lebanon is not mapped - Research culture is not established in all institutions; many researchers are not valued - There is no official competency framework for researchers in Lebanon - Research in Lebanon is fragmented and not included in a strategy - The conducted research projects do not always answer priority needs in Lebanon - The impact of the research conducted in Lebanon on the decisions related to public and clinical health is not clear - There is a general lack of funding for research | Challenges - Interinstitutional/interprofessional collaborations are hard to apply (competitiveness, people not used to working together, etc.) - Conducting large research projects with substantial funds is sometimes hard to manage - Political influences and the socioeconomic crisis might affect researchers’ decisions to leave Lebanon - Establishing priorities should be objective and based on the available information (evidence-based) that is sometimes not readily available - There is no clear research axes/strategies at the institution/national level (even if some exceptions are noted for some institutions) |