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Global Health Econ Sustain International scientific cooperation in public health

6 Education Graduate Program, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil
7 Department of Public Health, Family and Community Nursing, Nursing School of Coimbra/UICISA:E, Coimbra, Portugal
8 Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies - CEIS20, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
9 Department of Applied Communications Sciences, Faculty of Information Sciences, Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain
10 Center for Migration Studies and Intercultural Relations, Open University of Portugal, Lisbon, Portugal
11 Institute of International Relations, University of Brasilia, Brasilia, Federal District, Brazil
12 Development, Society and International Cooperation Graduate Program, University of Brasilia, Brasilia, Federal District, Brazil

1. Introduction ones (Bititci et al., 2000; Kaplan & Norton, 1997). This
performance evaluation represents a critical dimension
International scientific cooperation in public health – of short- and long-term strategic management, based
understood here, according to Marrara (2007) quoted by on the careful formulation of indicators that provide an
(Loyola et al., 2010, p. 2008), as the process of becoming objective representation of reality. For Kaplan & Norton
international by means of scientific internationalization (1997), these indicators play a fundamental role in the
policies, that is, through “strategies at the service of the management process and in managerial decision-making.
training of teachers, researchers, and students [.] carried
out both by student activities (involving master’s and Performance evaluation is an important tool for public
doctoral students) and teaching activities, such as research health policy because it allows us to (i) quantify results
internships abroad, participation in international courses, and, thus, improve evidence-based decision-making; (ii)
and congresses and publications in international journals.” quantify the efficacy, efficiency, and effectiveness of the
– is widely practiced around the world and is strategic practices adopted; and (iii) identify interventions that can
for achieving global health goals. If well executed, it has improve health policy performance (Santos, 2013). In this
the potential to improve countries’ institutional capacity sense, an evaluation framework should include technical
and strengthen national health systems. Monitoring and factors inherent to international health cooperation and
evaluating the performance of international scientific political factors related to the established institutional
cooperation in health therefore enable governments to partnerships (Broniatowski et al., 2008; Pereira et al., 2021).
implement actions in line with objectives, efficient resource Against this background, this study aims to propose
allocation, and expected results. indicators to evaluate the performance of scientific
Scientific research on performance evaluation of cooperation in public health, through “Syphilis No!”
international scientific cooperation in public health Project of Brazil, by clarifying two research questions:
remains scarce. According to Loyola et al. (2010): (i) “What could define a performance evaluation system
for international health cooperation agreements between
The limitations imposed by the nature of the most government institutions in public health projects?” and (ii)
of the data on international cooperation in Public “What are potential indicators to measure the performance of
Health, which served as the basis for this study, do international scientific cooperation in public health projects,
not allow us to advance conclusive ideas about this considering the 2030 Agenda?”. Of note, the 2030 Agenda
cooperation, except for the need to expand and (United Nations & Department of Economic and Social
deepen studies in this area. Although its importance Affairs, 2015) fully supports cooperation with foreign higher
for the formation of Brazilian postgraduate programs education and research institutions and other international
as a whole in undeniable, little can yet be said about organizations and institutions aimed at partnerships for
its effective contribution to the development of human, scientific, and technological development.
postgraduate programs in the area, as well as its real
trends, past and future, (p.2019) For Freitas (2021), both questions are guiding principles
for building the perspectives of the performance evaluation
Studies in this field often attempt to capture the financial system to align and balance the qualitative and quantitative
resources invested, which is insufficient to fathom the measures related to international cooperation, especially
social impact and role of international health cooperation regarding the global agenda. Therefore, the “Syphilis No!”
in implementing public health policy (Andrade & De Project of Brazil served as a reference for deriving related
Carvalho, 2015; Freitas et al., 2019; Lima, 2011). The performance indicators. Through this work, we aim to
system for evaluating the performance of cooperative contribute to facilitating more effective international
activities plays an essential role in the conduct, adaptation, scientific cooperation in public health interventions and
and implementation of public policies in health, as it policy-making processes between institutions and their
makes analytical categories more flexible than financial stakeholders.

Volume 2 Issue 2 (2024) 2 https://doi.org/10.36922/ghes.3037