COVID-19 pandemic waves: how prepared is West Africa for managing a high COVID-19 caseload? Urgent actions needed

The ECOWAS Region and the world have learnt a lot in the last year and a half concerning the pandemic. As the pandemic continues to evolve, the region needs to put together all these lessons in other to better protect its people, rebuild its economy and strengthen the regional health security for better regional prosperity. We reviewed the response mounted by the region from January 2020 to July 2021 and the existing body of knowledge. We recommend that the region quickly increase the COVID-19 immunization coverage, sustain the enhance genomic surveillance, improve testing and the strengthen point of entry surveillance

Promoting research to improve maternal, neonatal, infant and adolescent health in West Africa : the role of the West African Health Organisation

In this commentary, officials and other members of the West African Health Organisation (WAHO) examine the regional organisation’s role in promoting research as a tool for strengthening maternal and infant health in West Africa. While WAHO’s anchor point at the country level is the Ministry of Health, by integrating research into its work the organisation now works alongside other stakeholders including networks of research centres and universities

Promoting knowledge transfer and culture of evidence use for health systems strengthening in West Africa

This one-page poster/policy brief describes preliminary results of promoting the culture of health research evidence in strengthening health systems in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) sub-region. This West African Health Organization (WAHO) policy report shows some indicators of the use of health research in policy making.

Promoting evidence informed policy making in Nigeria : a review of the maternal, newborn and child health policy development process

The study reviewed policy documents on maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH) in Nigeria to assess the application of evidence-informed mechanisms in the policy formulation process. From a literature review, policy documents indicate that a consultative process of collection of inputs involving multiple stakeholders was employed, but there was no rigorous scientific process of assessing, adaptation and application of scientific evidence acknowledged in the policy development process. The policy documents neither reported the process of production of evidence used in their development nor indicated the mechanisms in place for knowledge transfer and use of health research findings

Assessment of policy makers’ individual and organizational capacity to acquire, assess, adapt and apply research evidence for maternal and child health policy making in Nigeria: a cross-sectional quantitative survey

Background: Throughout the world, there is increasing awareness and acknowledgement of the value of research evidence in the development of effective health policy and in quality health care practice and administration. Among the major challenges associated with the lack of uptake of research evidence into policy and practice in Nigeria is the capacity constraints of policymakers to use research evidence in policy making.Objective: To assess the capacity of maternal and child health policy makers to acquire, access, adapt and apply available research evidence.Methods: This cross-sectional quantitative survey was conducted at a national maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH) stakeholders’ engagement event. An evidence to policy self-assessment questionnaire was used to assess the capacity of forty MNCH policy makers to acquire, assess, adapt and apply research evidence for policy making.Results: Low mean ratings were observed ranging from 2.68-3.53 on a scale of 5 for knowledge about initiating/conducting research and capacity to assess authenticity, validity, reliability, relevance and applicability of research evidence and for organizational capacity for promoting and using of research for policy making.Conclusion: There is need to institute policy makers’ capacity development programmes to improve evidence-informed policymaking.Keywords: Policy maker; research; evidence; capacity; Nigeri

Assessment of national maternal and child health policy-makers’ knowledge and capacity for evidence-informed policy-making in Nigeria

The study aimed to engage Nigerian maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH) policy-makers and stakeholders and to assess their existing knowledge and capacity on the use of research evidence for policy-making and practice. A total of 40 participants completed the questionnaire. The outcomes suggest that a future stakeholders’ engagement event could serve as an important platform to assess policy-makers’ capacity for evidence-informed policy-making. Constraints to capacity include lack of access to, and inability to synthesize, adapt and utilize available research evidence

An assessment of maternal, newborn and child health implementation studies in Nigeria : implications for evidence informed policymaking and practice

This review provides insight into the process of evidence-informed policymaking and knowledge transfer based on implementation research, focusing on Mother, Newborn and Child Health (MNCH) in Nigeria. Although a reduction in maternal and child mortality in Nigeria could be attributed to implementation of various intervention policies, the study made clear that new and effective policies were informed by research evidence derived from implementation research. Implementation science is the use of strategies to adopt, adapt, and integrate evidence-based health interventions and policies. It is thus able to change patterns of practice within specific settings

Assessment of policymakers’ engagement initiatives to promote evidence informed health policy making in Nigeria

In most developing countries including Nigeria, one of the most challenging issues associated with evidence-to-policy link is the capacity constraints of policymakers to access, synthesize, adapt and utilize available research evidence. The purpose of this review is to assess the efforts and various initiatives that have been undertaken to deliberately engage policymakers and other stakeholders in the health sector in Nigeria for the promotion of evidence informed policymaking. A MEDLINE Entrez Pubmed search was performed and studies that investigated policy making process, evidence to policy link, research to policy mechanism, and researchers/policymakers interaction in Nigeria in relation to health policy were sought. Of the 132 publications found, 14 (10.6%) fulfilled the study inclusion criteria and were selected and included in the review. Of the fourteen scientific publications identified, 11 of the studies targeted both researchers and policymakers and the principal tool of intervention was training workshops which focused on various aspects of evidence informed policymaking. All the studies indicated positive outcomes and impacts in relation to quantifiable improvement in policymakers' knowledge and competence in evidence to policy process. Capacity strengthening engagement mechanism is needed for both researchers to generate better evidence and for policymakers and health-care professionals to better use available evidence.Keywords: Policymakers, evidence informed, health policy, Nigeri