The research impact on health issues from the specialty of emergency medicine is discussed. Emphasis is placed on the epidemiology of common diseases, the role of collaboration within the specialty and the value of conducting clinical trials.

Locally conducted research has played a critical role in guiding the response to the HIV epidemic in Jamaica. The research contributed greatly to Jamaica’s comprehensive HIV/sexually transmitted infections (STI) control programme that has been effective in slowing the HIV epidemic, reducing HIV prevalence among sex-workers and STI clinic attendees, preventing mother-to-child transmission, reducing syphilis rates and mitigating the impact of HIV on the population.

Special emphasis is placed on health research that focussed on the perinatal period, the young child and adolescent, the epidemics of chronic diseases and violence and the linkage between health and tourism.

Our model in which university faculty and postgraduate students collaborate with public health teams to investigate disease burden, find the most effective strategies and train public health teams, is workable.