Table 2.

Key research gaps and questions

Data and data systems	How can data from vertical programmes and non-health data be incorporated into emergency care surveillance?
	What are the validity, reliability and utility of various surveillance instruments used in emergency care settings?
	How do we predict the population-level burden of acute illnesses and injuries using data obtained through emergency care system surveillance?
	How do we accurately and reliably identify epidemiological changes in the health of communities through data obtained from emergency care system surveillance?
	What data obtained through emergency department routine surveillance can help with identifying infectious disease outbreaks in LMICs?
	How do we use emergency care surveillance data to better characterise the prevalence of non-communicable diseases (such as DM and HTN) in otherwise healthy patients and what mechanism would improve long-term care of such patients?
Quality and access to emergency care and clinical interventions for key diseases	What is the epidemiology of emergency diseases in low-resource settings? Can presenting symptoms and syndromic presentations be used to define disease epidemiology when time and/or resources to make final diagnoses are not always available?
	What are the measures of access to emergency care? What is the level of access of population in LMICs to quality emergency care?
	How can quality of emergency care be measured in low-resource settings? What interventions can be developed to improve the quality of emergency care? Which tools developed in high-resource settings are applicable in low-resource settings?
	Which component(s) of the emergency care system either individually or in combination are most effective at improving patient outcomes and decreasing risk of death and disability?
	How to identify, triage and treat patients with emergency conditions, such as sepsis, injury, etc, using vital signs and simple clinical assessments and other low-cost technologies, such as oxygen saturation?
	How do we strengthen risk assessment and engage acutely sick patients and their families in decision making in low-resource, low-health literacy settings?
Emergency health economics	What is the economic value of emergency care? What are the economic benefits of emergency care interventions?
	How do various methods of healthcare financing impact financial protection from emergency diseases?
Emergency care research ethics	What international-specific and country-specific guidelines could help researchers and research ethics committees navigate ethical and regulatory issues distinctive of emergency care research?

LMICs, low-income and middle-income countries.