WHO Regional Office-supported research grants have been developed to support research for health initiatives in the Member States of the Eastern Mediterranean Region, with a focus on utilizing “research for health” as a tool to promote health and development and to enhance the use of research-based evidence in health policy and planning.

The Research Policy and Development programme currently supports three research grant schemes – “Regional Office/Research in Priority Areas of Public Health”; “Improving Programme Implementation through Embedded Research”, in coordination with the “Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research” based at WHO headquarters, in addition to the “Joint Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean/Tropical Disease Research small grants scheme for implementation research in infectious diseases of poverty”, offered in coordination with the “Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases” also based at WHO headquarters.