Moving Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health Evidence into Policy in West Africa
Programas y alianzas
Principales instituciones
Resumen
This project brings together and supports the uptake of maternal and child health research evidence into policies and practices in West Africa.Más información
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.
Publicaciones
Resultados de la investigación Opens in new tab
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).
The workshop/conference sessions focused on evidence-based policies and capacity building, in order to prepare the ground for the Innovating for Maternal and Child Health in Africa (IMCHA) initiative. Topics included: knowledge transfer needs of policy makers and effective mechanisms; political engagement and strengthening interactions within the political sphere; adapting evidence and usability for policy makers; human resources capacity building; community health workers; project monitoring and evaluation; gender and equity, and training and support for Health Policy Research Organizations (HPROs).
