On 24-25 October, AHOP’s Senegalese National Centre, Pasteur Institute of Dakar (IPD), convened an introductory seminar and workshop with key stakeholders from the Ministry of Health. The workshop brought together the AHOP IPD team, the Planning, Research and Statistics Branch (DPRS) of the Ministry of Health and Social Action in Senegal (MSAS), and the WHO Country Office representative––effectively kicking off this collaboration and the first of many opportunities for policy-maker engagement as part of AHOP’s remit for knowledge translation and exchange, both nationally and regionally.

The event was designed to formally introduce AHOP and the National Centre, to identify priorities in health systems and policy research in Senegal, and to develop the terms of a framework for collaboration between IPD and MSAS, through the DPRS. The workshop facilitated a rich discussion across all partners and resulted in a targeted list of recommendations, next steps and timelines for guiding the work of IPD and future AHOP outputs. Participants collectively identified and mapped out 24 priority themes, directly informed by the strategic framework of Senegal’s 2019-2028 Health and Social Development Plan. The partners are planning a follow-up workshop to finalise workplans and continue laying the operational groundwork to ensure successful collaboration and coordination between leading health systems researchers and policy-makers in Senegal.