Research priority setting of Shaheed Beheshti Medical University Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine Research Center in 2007

Background: It is obvious that because of the lack of resources, we should devote our limited resources to priorities in order to reach an acceptable level of health. The objective of this study was research priority setting of infectious diseases using COHRED (Council on Health Research for Development) model. Materials and methods: First of all, the stakeholders were identified and the situation of the field of infectious diseases was analyzed. Then, research areas and titles were specified using announcement, infectious diseases sources, (International Classification of Diseases 10) ICD10 and consensual qualitative techniques including brainstorming sessions, focal group discussion and Delphi. Finally, research priorities were specified by giving scores according to the criteria. Results: Twenty-five research areas were obtained as priorities of infectious diseases and tropical medicine. These areas are HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, drugs, infections in special hosts, avian flu, nosocomial infections, infections due to needle stick injury, malaria, viral hepatitis, viral hemorrhagic fevers, surgical- and burn- related infections, fever, central nervous system infections, effectiveness of vaccination, bloodstream infections, influenza, lower respiratory tract infections, gastrointestinal infections due to Entamoeba histolytica, bone and joint infections due to brucella,bioterrorism, brucellosis, hydatidosis, anthrax, botulism, and the role of migrants in the distribution of infectious diseases in Iran. Conclusion: Three subheadings including treatment, prevention and control and diagnosis methods got the most priorities, respectively. Although about half of the priorities are related to two subheadings including treatment and diagnosis methods, research priorities of prevention and control methods (22% of all priorities) indicate the importance of prevention for clinicians who gave scores to the titles.