Implementation of a Health Policy Advisory Committee as a Knowledge Translation Platform: The Nigeria Experience

Uneke, Chigozie; Ndukwe, Chinwendu Daniel; Ezeoha, Abel Abeh; Uro-Chukwu, Henry Chukwuemeka; Ezeonu, Chinonyelum Thecla

doi:10.15171/ijhpm.2015.21

Implementation of a Health Policy Advisory Committee as a Knowledge Translation Platform: The Nigeria Experience

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Chigozie Uneke ¹^{, 2}

Chinwendu Daniel Ndukwe ³

Abel Abeh Ezeoha ⁴

Henry Chukwuemeka Uro-Chukwu ⁵

Chinonyelum Thecla Ezeonu ⁶

¹ Department of Medical Microbiology/Parasitology, Faculty of Clinical Medicine, Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki, Nigeria

² Health Policy & Systems Research Project (Knowledge Translation Platform), Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki, Nigeria

³ National Agency for the Control of AIDS, Abuja, Nigeria

⁴ Department of Banking & Finance, Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki, Nigeria

⁵ National Obstetrics Fistula Centre, Abakaliki, Nigeria

⁶ Department of Paediatrics, Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki, Nigeria

10.15171/ijhpm.2015.21

Abstract

Background
In recent times, there has been a growing demand internationally for health policies to be based on reliable research evidence. Consequently, there is a need to strengthen institutions and mechanisms that can promote interactions among researchers, policy-makers and other stakeholders who can influence the uptake of research findings. The Health Policy Advisory Committee (HPAC) is one of such mechanisms that can serve as an excellent forum for the interaction of policy-makers and researchers. Therefore, the need to have a long term mechanism that allows for periodic interactions between researchers and policy-makers within the existing government system necessitated our implementation of a newly established HPAC in Ebonyi State Nigeria, as a Knowledge Translation (KT) platform. The key study objective was to enhance the capacity of the HPAC and equip its members with the skills/competence required for the committee to effectively promote evidence informed policy-making and function as a KT platform.

Methods
A series of capacity building programmes and KT activities were undertaken including: i) Capacity building of the HPAC using Evidence-to-Policy Network (EVIPNet) SUPPORT tools; ii) Capacity enhancement mentorship programme of the HPAC through a three-month executive training programme on health policy/health systems and KT in Ebonyi State University Abakaliki; iii) Production of a policy brief on strategies to improve the performance of the Government’s Free Maternal and Child Health Care Programme in Ebonyi State Nigeria; and iv) Hosting of a multi-stakeholders policy dialogue based on the produced policy brief on the Government’s Free Maternal and Child Health Care Programme.

Results
The study findings indicated a noteworthy improvement in knowledge of evidence-to-policy link among the HPAC members; the elimination of mutual mistrust between policy-makers and researchers; and an increase in the awareness of importance of HPAC in the Ministry of Health (MoH).

Conclusion
Findings from this study suggest that a HPAC can function as a KT platform and can introduce a new dimension towards facilitating evidence-to-policy link into the operation of the MoH, and can serve as an excellent platform to bridge the gap between research and policy.

Keywords

Health Policy

Advisory Committee

Knowledge Translation (KT)

Subjects

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