Promoting interdisciplinary collaboration in health research in developing countries: lessons from the Triangle...

The Triangle Programme (1989-1992) aimed at strengthening the institutional capacity for health social science research and intervention in Sri Lanka through the promotion of appropriate international and national partnerships. First, it involved an international partnership (Triangle 1) among two universities in the developed world, i.c. University of Antwerp in Belgium and the University of Connecticut in the USA, and one university in the developing world, i.c. the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. This partnership facilitated the transfer of knowledge, experience, skills across national boundaries and the North/South divide. Second, it developed a national/local partnership (Triangle 2) among the Faculties of Arts, Agriculture and Medicine at the University of Peradeniya by involving them in a joint programme of health social science research and training covering the entire range of activities from proposal development to dissemination of research results. Focusing on the latter aspect (Triangle 2) this paper reviews the results of the programme from the angle of cross-fertilization of disciplines through their collaboration in applied health research in a developing country setting.