The East & Southern Africa (E&SA) Division consists of 24 countries in East and sub-Saharan Africa. Countries in the region are all still developing their dental research activities and most dentists and oral health workers are not yet members of the IADR. Due to lack of adequate information and to some extent high poverty levels, such activities have been limited to training institutions.
With the expansion of the IADR structure to include federations, the region has become smaller and interest in IADR activities has increased. This interest needs to be sustained and even increased to ensure that more are given a chance to enjoy membership in the IADR family.
Current efforts by members to improve the quality and quantity of dental research in the region have been hampered by the lack of an effective mechanism to communicate the same to members and potential members. Journals that are published outside the region are not easy to submit to due to distance. These journals are also not available locally or have subscription rates that are prohibitive. Their content can therefore not be easily used by decision makers and local researchers. There is therefore need to strengthen the locally available and accessible journals so as to encourage local researchers.
The expertise in research that has been built over the years needs to be sustainable. The best way to do this is to ensure that the young researchers are interested in research and that their imagination is aroused. To be able to do this, they must be exposed to international standards of conferencing. The AMEF meeting is one such atmosphere.
