ABSTRACT
From 2009 onwards, the 'twinning project' developed. In this project, each of the departments of family medicine in South Africa 'twinned' with another country to support them in developing training of family physicians, even if that country did not yet have a medical school. In some of these twinning relationships, there was a need for development of research projects. Initially, research focused on exploring the definition and principles of family medicine in sub-Saharan Africa. The participants stress that appropriate research in family medicine and primary health care in Africa is essential, in order to substantially enlarge the evidence base for the issues highlighted in this statement. This should be facilitated by the provision of specific funding by governments and nongovernmental organisations (NGOs), by building the research capacity in academic departments of the family medicine and primary health care, and by developing an African Family Medicine and Primary Health Care Research Network to support researchers and promote cross-country collaboration.
