Moving Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health Evidence into Policy in West Africa
Programs and partnerships
Lead institution(s)
Summary
This project brings together and supports the uptake of maternal and child health research evidence into policies and practices in West Africa.Read more
This project brings together and supports the uptake of maternal and child health research evidence into policies and practices in West Africa. A part of the Innovating for Maternal and Child Health in Africa program, the project's impact will be felt at the national and regional levels in Ghana, Mali, Nigeria, and Senegal.
Knowledge and action needed
While health systems research has informed improvements in maternal, newborn, and child health globally, there are critical knowledge and implementation gaps in West Africa. Preventable maternal, newborn, and child deaths, illnesses, and disabilities continue to burden countries in the region.
Partnerships to prevent death, illness, and disability
West African governments, the international community, and the Government of Canada are committed to improving maternal, newborn, and child health. The West African Health Organisation (WAHO) will work with implementation research teams (IRTs) to provide evidence for regional and national decision-makers.
Their work will complement the IRTs' efforts to integrate the evidence they generate into policies and practice. WAHO will foster research uptake in policies and practices by building decision-makers' understanding and promoting more collaboration with researchers.
Program focuses on maternal and child health
Innovating for Maternal and Child Health in Africa is a CA$36 million, seven-year research program that seeks to assist countries in resolving pressing health systems challenges to improve maternal, newborn, and child health. It is designed to support
-two independent policy organizations (consortia)
-approximately 20 implementation research teams.
This project supports the West African Health Organisation to be a pivotal health-policy research organization in West Africa. WAHO will leverage evidence generated by the IRTs and other researchers in its policy advisory work.
The program is a collaboration between Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, and the International Development Research Centre.
Research outputs
Access full library of outputs Opens in new tab
This second workshop promoted by the West African Health Organization (WAHO) shared research findings from three IMCHA projects in Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health plus Nutrition (MNCAH+N) in Nigeria, and discussed the use of research in decision making in MNCH. It also enhanced the capacity of stakeholders to use the regional evidence-based policy making guidance tool. The report briefly outlines workshop activities along with concluding recommendations.
This one-page report provides a synopsis of the Abiye Program facet of the innovating for maternal, newborn and child health (IMNCH) project in Ondo State, Nigeria. The main objective of the research days is to move MNCH research into policy and practice by sharing findings among researchers and policy makers. Results of the project to this point (2018) show impact: between 2009 and 2016 there has been a reduction in maternal mortality from 545/100,000 women to 171/100,000; a reduction of over 70%.
There is a need to strengthen the institutions and mechanisms that can more systematically promote interactions between researchers, policy-makers and others who can influence the uptake of research findings. In this report, the outcome of the first knowledge transfer (KT) training workshop is presented. The workshop package consisted of 15 modules and was designed to enhance the KT competence of Implementation Research Team (IRT) of Bauchi State Nigeria, which is supported by the IDRC/WAHO (West African Health Organization).