16

November

2021

Global focus event: Institutionalizing evidence-informed decision-making for effective health policy

Tuesday, 16 November 2021, 12:00-13:45 CET

Evidence advisory bodies and governance mechanisms facilitating evidence-to-policy processes have received increasing recognition and support in recent years. Nonetheless, the COVID-19 pandemic in many countries revealed major gaps in sustainable, institutionalized knowledge translation capacities, and accelerated the creation and adaptation of a variety of evidence-to-policy translation tools and structures such as rapid evidence review and synthesis services. While some of these newly established support structures promise to have a positive, long-term impact for evidence-informed policy-making, much remains to be learned on how evidence-to-policy mechanisms are best created and sustained at country level.

Within WHO’s Evidence-informed Policy Network (EVIPNet), a globally leading initiative empowering countries to put actionable evidence in the hands of users, institutionalizing knowledge translation for more sustainable, resilient country capacities has been a strategic priority for over a decade. Incorporating lessons learned from before and during COVID-19, EVIPNet is currently developing a user-friendly tool to strengthen members’ efforts in institutionalizing evidence-informed policy-making.

This focus event will bring together stakeholders such as policy-makers, researchers and civil society members to capitalize on key lessons in institutionalizing evidence-informed policy-making for more resilient health systems and offer first insights into the novel thematic EVIPNet-tool.

Key questions and session highlights

During the first part of the session, speakers will reflect on the following key aspects:

What EIPM tools, mechanisms and governance structures countries developed or improved during the COVID-19 pandemic?

What were countries’ contributions to more resilient health systems?

To what extent have the successes and failures of evidence use during COVID-19 led to longer-term reflection, consideration and even more embedded or more routine use of evidence in policy-making?

Moderator

Senior Researcher, Africa Centre for Evidence, University of Johannesburg, South Africa

Laurenz Langer

Presenters

Policy Translation Lead, United Nations University International Institute for Global Health

Emma Rhule

Senior Adviser, Public Management and Budgeting, Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development

Stephane Jacobzone

Professor of Research Policy and Director of Impact and Engagement at the Faculty of Social Sciences, Sheffield University

James Wilsdon

Health Systems Specialist, Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research

Zubin Shroff

Panelists

Director, Health Systems; Associate Chair, International Health at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, U.S.A

Sara Bennet

Senior Advisor, International Health Policy Program and Advisor on Global Health, Ministry of Public Health, Thailand

Viroj Tangcharoensathien

Professor of Health Systems and Policy, Director of the Knowledge to Policy (K2P) Center; Director, WHO Collaborating Center for Evidence-Informed Policy and Practice, American University of Beirut, Lebanon

Fadi El-Jardali

Director, Africa Centre for Evidence, University of Johannesburg, South Africa; chairperson of the Africa Evidence Network

Ruth Stewart

Professor of Health Psychology, director of The Centre for Behaviour Change and head of The Health Psychology Research Group, University College London, U. K.

Susan Michie

Professor and Canada Research Chair in Evidence-Informed Health Systems; Director, WHO Collaborating Centre for Evidence-Informed Policy; Co-Lead, COVID-19 Evidence Network to support Decision-making (COVID-END), McMaster University, Canada

John Lavis