Program in Global Surgery and Social Change, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Center for Surgery and Public Health, Department of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.
BMJ Glob Health. 2021 Jan;6(1). doi: 10.1136/bmjgh-2020-003455.
Global health conferences are important platforms for knowledge exchange, decision-making and personal and professional growth for attendees. Neocolonial patterns in global health at large and recent opinion reports indicate that stakeholders from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) may be under-represented at such conferences. This study aims to describe the factors that impact LMIC representation at global health conferences.
A systematic review of articles reporting factors determining global health conference attendance was performed using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. Articles presenting conference demographics and data on the barriers and/or facilitators to attendance were included. Articles were screened at title and abstract level by four independent reviewers. Eligible articles were read in full text, analysed and evaluated with a risk of bias assessment.
Among 8765 articles screened, 46 articles met inclusion criteria. Thematic analysis yielded two themes: 'barriers to conference attendance' and 'facilitators to conference attendance'. In total, 112 conferences with 254 601 attendees were described, of which 4% of the conferences were hosted in low-income countries. Of the 98 302 conference attendees, for whom affiliation was disclosed, 38 167 (39%) were from LMICs.
'Conference inequity' is common in global health, with LMIC attendees under-represented at global health conferences. LMIC attendance is limited by systemic barriers including high travel costs, visa restrictions and lower acceptance rates for research presentations. This may be mitigated by relocating conferences to visa-friendly countries, providing travel scholarships and developing mentorship programmes to enable LMIC researchers to participate in global conferences.
全球健康会议是参会者进行知识交流、决策以及个人和专业成长的重要平台。从全球健康的新殖民主义模式和最近的意见报告来看，来自中低收入国家（LMICs）的利益相关者在这些会议上的代表性可能不足。本研究旨在描述影响全球健康会议中 LMIC 代表性的因素。
本研究采用系统综述的方法，根据系统综述和荟萃分析的首选报告项目（PRISMA）指南，对报告决定全球健康会议参与因素的文章进行了系统评价。纳入了报告会议人口统计学数据以及参加会议的障碍和/或促进因素的文章。四名独立评审员对标题和摘要进行了筛选。符合条件的文章进行全文阅读、分析，并进行偏倚风险评估。
在筛选出的 8765 篇文章中，有 46 篇符合纳入标准。主题分析产生了两个主题：“参加会议的障碍”和“参加会议的促进因素”。共描述了 112 次会议，有 254601 名与会者参加，其中 4%的会议在低收入国家举办。在所描述的 98302 名与会者中，有 38167 名（39%）来自 LMICs，他们的所属机构信息已公开。
全球健康领域普遍存在“会议不公平”现象，全球健康会议中 LMIC 与会者代表性不足。LMIC 与会者受到系统障碍的限制，包括旅行费用高、签证限制以及研究报告的接受率较低。通过将会议转移到签证友好型国家、提供旅行奖学金以及制定指导计划，使 LMIC 研究人员能够参与全球会议，可能会缓解这种情况。
