From 20 to 23 September 2022, AHOP held its annual face-to-face meeting in Dakar, Senegal. Representatives from AHOP’s five National Centres (Senegal, Rwanda, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Nigeria), the AHOP Advisory Group, WHO’s Regional Office for Africa (AFRO), the European Observatory on Health Systems & Policies, the London School of Economics & Political Science (LSE), and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation attended the event.
Participants exchanged experiences on the production and dissemination of AHOP research outputs under the umbrella theme ‘re-engineering health systems’ and reviewed their workplan for the year ahead. Upcoming publications include the first wave of Policy Briefs and a Comparative Study focused on community health systems.
Attendees also discussed the production of AHOP’s Country Health Systems and Services Profiles (CHSSP), which are currently underway. The profiles offer a detailed review of a country’s health system, tailored to the needs of the African region. In keeping with the platform’s emphasis on policy engagement, AHOP national centres recently held meetings with their Ministries of Health and key stakeholders to ensure the Profiles will be of maximum utility.
Participants reflected on the first AHOP Policy Dialogues held by the Senegalese National Centre (18 March 2022) and the Nigerian National Centre (13 December 2021). These events provide a platform for policy makers, experts, and national and regional stakeholders to come together to discuss the available evidence and policy options for key policy questions.
The annual meeting also provided the opportunity to tour the laboratories of Institut Pasteur Of Dakar, a pioneer in innovative health solutions to increase access to essential health services across Africa.
