WAHO Role as Health Policy Research Organization

http://www.wahooas.org
175, Avenue Ouezzin Coulibaly, 01 BP 153 Bobo-Dioulasso 01, Burkina Faso
West African Health Organization:
Role as Health Policy and
Research Organisation
West African Health Organization:
Role as Health Policy and
Research Organisation
IMCHA Mid-term Workshop
Dakar, Senegal, April 2017

Presentation outline
• Introduction on WAHO
• HPRO in IMCHA
• Situation Analysis
• WAHO Platform for KT improvement in
West Africa
• Some WAHO activities
• Conclusion
2

Introduction
3
The Economic Community Of West African States
(ECOWAS) is an intergovernmental regional body
made up of fifteen (15) West African Countries
The West African Health Organization (WAHO) is
the specialized health Institution of ECOWAS
Mission
The attainment of the highest possible standard
and protection of health of the peoples in the
region through:
1.The harmonisation of the health policies of
ECOWAS Member States,
2.Pooling of resources,
3.Cooperation with one another and with others for
a collective and strategic combat against the
health problems of the sub-region.
Web Site : www.wahooas.org

• Enable national level
ownership of the research from
the IRTs
• Build coherence and facilitate
mutual learning across the
Innovating for Maternal and Child
Health in Africa program
• Strengthen individual and
institutional capacities in
implementation research and
research use
Health Policy and Research
Organizations
4

MOVING MNCH Evidence into POLICY
in West Africa
Improve the demand for the production of, and use of research
results for decision-making in MNCH health programs and policies
within the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)
region
1.Conduct a situational analysis of the context of the production and the
use of research results at the national and regional levels in maternal,
newborn and child health (MNCH) within the ECOWAS region;
2.Strengthen the capacity of WAHO to promote the use of health
research within the ECOWAS region;
3.Promote the use of evidence to improve quality of decision-making
around MNCH within the ECOWAS region;
4.Strengthen the collaboration between MNCH researchers and
decision-makers within the ECOWAS region.
5

Situation Analysis
(Juil 2015 – Fev 2016)
Various stakeholders involvement
6

Regional workshop
Dakar, February 18-20th 2016
7

- Collaborative process
- Most of documents elaborated between 2005-2015, did not
referenced the scientific evidence used & the process of use
of evidence.
Keys results
Use evidence and elaboration process
8

175, Avenue Ouezzin Coulibaly, 01 BP 153 Bobo-Dioulasso 01, Burkina Faso 9
Keys results
Knowledge and use of ICT for bibliographic research

Knowledge of policy elaboration
Keys results

Individual capacities to use evidence
Keys results

Barriers: Equity
• Programs stop at the geographical, educational and socio-
economic levels
• Do not target vulnerable populations
• Handicapped
• Specific needs of young and old mothers
• Unemployed
• Household with a woman as the head of household
• Informal workers in urban settings

Barriers: Gender
• Majority of programs are "gender-blind"
• Health insurance: Who actually has access?
• User-fees: Where is the money coming from?
• or "gender-sensitive"
• Microcredit programs
• Voucher programs
• Immunization programs
• Improvement of services access does not change the status of the woman
(even if it does improve her health)
• Omits gender dynamics within society that limit mothers’
movements and decision-making abilities when seeking healthcare
for their children and themselves

Needs to use evidence
-Capacities building to access,
adapt and use of evidence
-Support of knowledge
brokering
-Guideline to use evidence
-Laws to constraint people to
use evidence
Opportunities to use evidence
-Development and review of
policies, strategic plans, guidelines
-Evaluation of MNCH programmes
-Supervisions
Keys results

Summary of keys results of
situation analysis KT issues
Individual level Organisational
Level
Institutionnal Level
Summary of keys
findings of
situational
analysis
Low capacities and
skills of the
stakeholders in
evidence production
access and use in
policy making
Low access to
evidence/
IT/internet
Absence or non
fonctionning
framework of
collaboration
between decisions
makers and
researchers
Lack of guidelines in
evidence use
Existence of some
KT Platform
Lack of text or law
on evidence use
during the policy
making process
15

WAHO KT Platform design and
contents
Individual level Organisational level Institutional level
WAHO
Capacity
strengthening
• Guidelines on evidence
use
• Strengthen library
Resolution to AMS on
evidence use in decision
making process
Request evidence-based
memos and evidence-
based policy proposals
Around
of MOH
Capacity
strengthening
Study tour
• Guidelines on evidence
use
• Promotion of policy brief
• Collaboration decisions
makers and researchers
• research-to-policy forum
Text or law on evidence
use in decision making
process
Around
of IRT
Capacity
strengthening
• Collaboration decisions
• research-to-policy forum
Advocacy for better
collaboration decisions
16

Collaboration with East Africa
HPRO
• Better understand our rôle in
the IMCHA
• Sharing Experience
• Sharing tools
• Joined planning activities to
better play our rôle
HPRO-IDRC Meeting in Nairobi, Kenya,
September 1-2 th 2016

Nairobi Conclusion
• HPRO role is new and more clarifications are
needed around the framework of
collaboration with the IRTs
• To better succes our role we need to
strengthen our capacities
• More collaboration is needed between the
two HPROs and all the stakeholders
18

Abuja
Abuja
19
Strengthening relationship between
Decisions makers and Researchers,
Abuja, Nigeria September 19 th

Abuja
Abuja
20
Strengthening IRT and Decisions makers
capacities in Knowledge translation,
Bauchi, Nigeria, November 2016, 2-4 th

Strengthening relationship between
Decisions makers and Researchers,
Dakar, Senegal, March 2017
21

Next activities
• Support Benin City Team to strengthen capacities in
KT and use MBB (May 2017)
• Training WAHO staff in KT (May 2017)
• Training in Gender for IRT and WAHO staff (June
2017)
• Submission a resolution on evidence use to AHM
(June 2017)
• Nigéria Maternal and Child Research Day (Oct 2017)
22

THANK YOU
23

WAHO Role as Health Policy Research Organization

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