Promoting the use of evidence in health policymaking in the ECOWAS region: the development and contextualization of an evidence-based policymaking guidance (original) (raw)
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Annals of African Medicine, 2022
Background:The West African Health Organization (WAHO) is promoting the use of evidence in policy-making within West Africa. The need for increased understanding of the complexities of the evidence-to-policy process among policy-makers in West Africa necessitates the development of evidence-based policy-making (EBPM) guidance. The purpose of this study was to interact with policy-makers from West African countries to identify the necessity of EBPM guidance for the subregion.Methods:A cross-sectional qualitative study design was used to elicit the views/opinions of senior health policy-makers from across the 15 West African countries on why an EBPM Guidance is necessary for the subregion. The policy-makers were engaged during WAHO-organized regional evidence-to-policy meetings on the improvement of maternal and child health outcomes held in Senegal in 2019. Face-to-face, one-on-one interactions, interviews, and deliberations during the meeting plenary sessions were held with the policy-makers, who participated in the regional meeting.Results:Up to 23 policy-makers representing 15 West African countries participated in the study. Policy-makers who took part in the study supported the development of an EBPM Guidance to facilitate evidence-to-policy process. Among the identified reasons why an EBPM Guidance for West Africa is a necessity were to understand: (i) how to deal with barriers and facilitators that influence evidence to policy process; (ii) how to acquire, access, adapt, and apply available research evidence in policy-making; (iii) how to deal with contextual issues and broad range of evidence; and (iv) how to engage parliamentarians and policy legislators to promote policy development.Conclusion:An EBPM is a valuable tool that can provide health sector policy-makers the needed guide on the evidence-to-policy process. Studies that will evaluate the impact of EBPM guidance on the policy-making process in low- and middle-income countries are advocated.
Nigerian Medical Journal, 2020
Review Article IntroductIon The Economic Commission of the West African States through her specialized health institution, the West African Health Organization (WAHO), is vigorously supporting evidence-informed policymaking (EIPM) among the member states. 1,2 The importance of EIPM is now widely recognized in West Africa as one of the key strategies that can contribute to health systems strengthening and the improvement of health outcomes through efficient policymaking. 3 In order to achieve continued improvement in health outcomes in an efficient and equitable manner, a number of reports have advocated for the implementation of policies that are evidence informed. 4,5 The World Health Organization (WHO) has indicated that policies that are informed by robust evidence have higher potential in saving lives, use resources more efficiently, and better meet citizens' needs. 6 The use of evidence in policymaking is a complicated process. This is because of the multiple definitions of what constitutes an evidence and how their use in policymaking is influenced by contextual factors. Evidence can either be scientific (research/surveys, quantitative/statistical Context: The West African Health Organization (WAHO) is vigorously supporting evidence-informed policymaking (EIPM) in the countries of West Africa. EIPM is increasingly recognized as one of the key strategies that can contribute to health systems strengthening and the improvement of health outcomes. The purpose of this rapid review is to examine two key examples of evidence-based strategies used to successfully implement health interventions in each of the West African countries and to highlight the lessons learned. Methods: A rapid review technique, defined as a type of knowledge synthesis in which systematic review processes are accelerated and methods are streamlined to complete the review more quickly, was used. A PubMed search was conducted using the combination of the following keywords: Health, policy making, evidence, plus name of each of the 15 countries to identify studies that described the process of use of evidence in policymaking in health interventions. Two examples of the publications that fulfilled the study inclusion criteria were selected. Results: Among the key processes used by the countries to promote EIPM in health interventions include policy cycle mechanism and political prioritization, rapid response services, technical advisory group and steering committees (SCs), policy dialog, capacity-strengthening mechanisms, local context evidence and operational guidelines, multisectoral action and consultative process. Conclusion: Various degrees of success have been achieved in by West African countries in the promotion of EIPM. As the science of EIPM continues to evolve and better understanding of the process is gained among policymakers, more studies on effective strategies to improve the evidence-to-policy process are advocated.
Abstract Background: Health policymaking is a complex process and analysing the role of evidence is still an evolving area in many low- and middle-income countries. Where evidence is used, it is greatly affected by cognitive and institutional features of the policy process. This paper examines the role of different types of evidence in health policy development in Nigeria. Methods: The role of evidence was compared between three case studies representing different health policies, namely the (1) integrated maternal neonatal and child health strategy (IMNCH); (2) oral health (OH) policy; and (3) human resource for health (HRH) policy. The data was collected using document reviews and 31 in-depth interviews with key policy actors. Framework Approach was used to analyse the data, aided by NVivo 10 software. Results: Most respondents perceived evidence to be factual and concrete to support a decision. Evidence was used more if it was perceived to be context-specific, accessible and timely. Low-cost high-impact evidence, such as the Lancet series, was reported to have been used in drafting the IMNCH policy. In the OH and HRH policies, informal evidence such as experts’ experiences and opinions, were reported to have been useful in the policy drafting stage. Both formal and informal evidence were mentioned in the HRH and OH policies, while the development of the IMNCH was revealed to have been informed mainly by more formal evidence. Overall, respondents suggested that formal evidence, such as survey reports and research publications, were most useful in the agenda-setting stage to identify the need for the policy and thus initiating the policy development process. International and local evidence were used to establish the need for a policy and develop policy, and less to develop policy implementation options. Conclusion: Recognition of the value of different evidence types, combined with structures for generating and using evidence, are likely to enhance evidence-informed health policy development in Nigeria and other similar contexts. Keywords: Evidence, Policy, Policymaking, Role of evidence
BMC Health Services Research, 2016
Background: The Global Forum 2015 panel session dialogue entitled "From evidence to policythinking outside the box" was held on 26 August 2015 in the Philippines to debate why evidence was not fully translated into policy and practice and what could be done to increase its uptake. This paper reports the reasons and possible actions for increasing the uptake of evidence, and highlights the actions partners could take to increase the use of evidence in the African Region. Discussion: The Global Forum 2015 debate attributed African Region's low uptake of evidence to the big gap in incentives and interests between research for health researchers and public health policy-makers; limited appreciation on the side of researchers that public health decisions are based on multiple and complex considerations; perception among users that research evidence is not relevant to local contexts; absence of knowledge translation platforms; sub-optimal collaboration and engagement between industry and research institutions; lack of involvement of civil society organizations; lack of engagement of communities in the research process; failure to engage the media; limited awareness and debate in national and local parliaments on the importance of investing in research and innovation; and dearth of research and innovation parks in the African Region.
Health Research Policy and Systems, 2014
Background: Meetings and conferences are often used as a tool to disseminate information, network with colleagues, and/or set direction for a field of study, but there is little evidence to support whether such events achieve their objectives. This study evaluates the International Forum on Evidence Informed Health Policymaking (EIHP), a three-day meeting held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in 2012, to determine the success of the meeting based on pre-determined objectives. Methods: The evaluation strategy was developed based on a previously published conference evaluation framework and operationalized as an end-of-conference participant survey that incorporated both process (programme/organization) and outcome measures (potential changes in behaviour). Results: Sixty seven of approximately 121 attendees filled out a questionnaire (a 55% response rate) and, overall, participants rated the programme components and plenary sessions very highly. The top three benefits reported by participants were: i) sharing experiences and lessons learned (75%); ii) new opportunities for future collaboration (69%); and iii) new knowledge (67%). Conversely, only 25% or less of meeting participants reported an intent to utilize any of the potential benefits highlighted in the questionnaire, with the notable exception of pursuing new opportunities for future collaboration. Conclusions: The evaluation findings suggest that the International Forum achieved its objectives of sharing experiences with EIHP and providing opportunities for networking among EIHP initiatives, although there are limited prospects for direct improvements to efforts to support EIHP.
Ghana Medical Journal
Objectives: To identify strategies and interventions to strengthen the generation and use of research evidence in health policy and practice decision-making and implementation in the West African sub-region (knowledge translation).Design: The study design was cross-sectional. Data sources were from a desk review, West African Network of Emerging Leaders (WANEL) member brainstorming, and group discussion outputs from WANEL members and session participants’ discussions and reflections during an organised session at the 2019 African Health Economics and Policy Association meeting in Accra.Results: Strategies and interventions identified included developing a Community of Practice, a repository of health policy and systems research (HPSR) evidence, stakeholder mapping, and engagement for action, advocacy, and partnership. Approaches for improving evidence uptake beyond traditional knowledge translation activities included the use of cultural considerations in presenting research results...
Http Dx Doi Org 10 1080 17441692 2012 666255, 2012
In Nigeria, the lack of adequate understanding of the complex nature of translating research into policy and the incompatibility existing between researchers and policymakers constitute a great challenge to evidence-informed policymaking. To address these challenges a one-day evidence-to-policy training workshop was organised for policymakers, researchers and other major stakeholders in the health sector in southeastern Nigeria. Of the 104 individuals invited to the workshop 87 (83.6%) attended. The workshop training sessions focused on capacity development for evidence-informed health policy-making and building effective linkages/partnerships. The post-workshop assessment indicated significant improvements in participants' knowledge, their understanding of the health policymaking process and the use of evidence compared to their pre-workshop status. Using a focus group discussion, major strategies identified by participants that can bridge the gap between health policymakers and researchers included: involving both parties in planning and execution of health research and health programmes; promoting dialogue between researchers and policymakers; institutionalising research grants and commissioning research in health ministries; and ensuring that researchers are made to focus on the core needs of policymakers. There is need for further discussion and debate on the researchers and policymakers partnership concept in low income settings.
An introduction to evidence-informed policy and practice in Africa
Using Evidence in Policy and Practice, 2020
This chapter introduces the theory around evidence and evidence-based policy making, otherwise referred to as evidence-informed policy and practice. The authors acknowledge that, in practice, policy makers use values, experience and political necessity as well as evidence to inform decisions, so they apply a limited or 'bounded rationality'. We discuss different types of evidence use, including instrumental, conceptual, symbolic and process use. An overview is given of the historical development of use of evidence, in Africa and internationally, from a focus on data to monitoring and evaluation to evaluation as a distinct discipline, and the move from single studies to research synthesis. The role of knowledge brokers is discussed, dealing with both the supply and demand for evidence. The authors emphasise the importance of creating an enabling environment for evidence use. This is introduced in this chapter and is a theme throughout the book. All governments have to make choices about how to deploy their resources. In Africa, where resources are more limited and social problems are pressing, these choices are critical. Much has been written about how evidence can assist, for example, in demonstrating progress in implementing national plans, negotiating and designing large-scale investments and assisting in decision making . Yet, in spite of the rhetoric around the importance of evidence, use of evidence for policy and practice remains challenging and somewhat elusive. A study of policy makers in South Africa found that while 45% of senior managers hoped to use evidence in decision making, only 9% reported being able to translate this intention into practice . In Chapter 4 of this book, it is reported that between 40% and 50% of managers in Benin, Uganda and South Africa rarely or never use evaluation evidence. This situation is not just limited to Africa. refer to several examples of evidence not being used: 85% of health research not being used internationally; in the Obama administration only 1% of government funding was informed by evidence (Bridgeland and Orszag, 2015); and, despite
Strategies to enhance the capacity for evidence-informed health policymaking in Nigeria
The Internet Journal of Healthcare Administration, 2010
In Nigeria, there is little interest in transfer and uptake of research into policy and practice. The major constraint to the use of evidence in policy and practice in Nigeria is the grossly deficient capacity development at the individual and organizational levels, particularly the lack of formally trained human resources among public health policy makers. The problem is further compounded by the existence of few relevant studies for many important health policy issues, much less systematic reviews of evidence. The most prominent reason attributed to the limited usability of existing data is that policymakers' needs do not drive research. Also conflicts over fundamental political values and interest groups can limit the relevance of evidence to the decisionmaking process and inundate the policy setting with bad-quality evidence, champion poorly designed studies, and limit the critical analysis of information through the social relations they develop with officials. The strategies to enhance evidenceinformed policy making include: enhancing supply of policy-relevant research products; enhancing capacity of policy-making organizations to use evidence; establishing new organizational mechanisms to support use of evidence in policy; promoting networking and; establishing norms and regulations regarding evidence use in policymaking.