The Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research (Alliance) is delighted to share the news that the Governing Council and Senate of Ebonyi State University have approved the establishment of the African Institute for Health Policy & Health Systems Studies.
“This is the greatest achievement of an innovative study funded by the Alliance,” said Chigozie Jesse Uneke, “as we have pressed for the establishment of the Institute since 2009.”
That was the year when Uneke, as principal investigator, and his team began work in an Alliance programme aimed at supporting national processes for evidence-informed policy-making and strengthening evidence-to-policy links. As a result of a competitive bid, they were given a grant alongside institutions in Argentina, Bangladesh, Cameroon, Kyrgyzstan and Zambia.
"This is the greatest achievement of an innovative study funded by the Alliance as we have pressed for the establishment of the Institute since 2009."
- Chigozie Jesse Uneke
The Alliance funding that began in 2009 was, Uneke added, “our first grant in health policy and health systems research. The grant was one of the best things that happened to my research team and we are grateful to the Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research for providing us with the funding and technical support. The grant enabled us to develop adequate research skills and capacity for evidence-informed policy-making, introduced the science of health policy and systems research, trained policy-makers on evidence use in policy-making and revolutionized the evidence-to-policy link in Nigeria.”
Uneke and colleagues have continued to study and publish widely in scientific journals on the promotion of evidence-informed policy-making, on bringing together policy-makers and researchers, on capacity enhancement and knowledge translation. In 2010 they published a first report: Operational Manual for Strengthening Institutional Capacity to Employ Evidence in Health Policymaking for Developing Countries: The Nigeria Experience.
The creation of the new institute is the culmination of three years of work with Alliance support and encouragement. “We have permanently institutionalized health policy and health systems research in this part of the world,” continued Uneke. “The University Senate has also approved that the Institute commence immediately post-graduate training programmes in these areas.” Uneke’s research team will serve as the management/administrative committee for the Institute.
Abdul Ghaffar, Executive Director of the Alliance, praised the long-term effort that has prepared for the creation of the Institute: “This is a good example of commitment to joint action on the part of researchers and policy-makers. We are proud of this result. We need more such collaboration to enhance capacity for more relevant research and effective decision-making in health. Jesse is one of the few global researchers who understand the demands and needs of both policy-makers and researchers.” The Alliance is currently testing another innovative concept in four countries: establishing ‘policy information platforms’ which aim to provide access to existing policy-relevant knowledge in both indexed publications and grey literature and to ensure that relevant and reliable information is available in a user-friendly format for policy and management decisions. “Jesse and the new Institute for Health Policy & Health Systems Studies at Ebonyi State University, Nigeria, are our natural partners for this pioneering project also,” Ghaffar added.
Jesse Uneke, as he is known, comes from a rural area of Ebonyi State Nigeria where child and maternal mortality is high, made worse by high prevalence of preventable infectious diseases. A strong desire to seek and identify affordable solutions and remedies for the health of underserved communities of Nigeria led him into a health and health research career path. He also became interested in discovering the best strategies to integrate research findings into the policy-making and policy-implementation processes. He is the Director of the Health Policy & Systems Research Project, Ebonyi State University Nigeria and also currently serves as the Director of the Directorate of Research, Innovation and Commercialization, Ebonyi State University.