Category: Policy Dialogue

AHOP uses the term ‘policy dialogue’ in a specific way to mean: “A highly focused and carefully facilitated intervention with a small group of senior decision makers to provide evidence in support of a specific and tangible policy decision (or the generation of policy options) and a safe place to discuss it.”

After each dialogue, we produce a short document summarising the opportunities and challenges, proposed strategies and policy implications identified during discussions.

Brain drain in Africa: bilateral agreements on health workforce migration and mobility

A woman in a yellow dress stands and speaks into a microphone at a roundtable event

On 25 April 2024, the Nigerian Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Africa, WHO Country Office for Nigeria, and the African Health Observatory – Platform on Health Systems and Policies (AHOP), hosted a policy dialogue on brain drain in Africa. Key stakeholders from across the Nigerian health sector, as well as academics and ministry officials from Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, and Senegal attended to discuss the policy question: Can bilateral agreements and other collaborative strategies effectively manage health worker migration and mitigate shortages in the health workforce in African countries?

Designing effective task-shifting programmes to address critical surgical healthcare workforce shortages

A group of people stood on a staircase, smiling at the cameraHOP banner, smiling at the camera

The African Health Observatory Platform on Health Systems and Policies (AHOP) and the RCS England-LSE Global Surgery Policy Unit (GSPU) collaborated to organize a cross-cutting policy dialogue on addressing critical shortages in the surgical healthcare workforce through effective task-shifting programmes. The discussion brought together a wide range of stakeholders from Ethiopia, Nigeria, Rwanda, and the United Kingdom, from various sectors including Federal Ministries of Health (FMoH), professional associations, international organizations, academic institutions, AHOP, health facilities, and policy makers.

Promoting systemic use of research evidence to inform health policy and practice in Kenya

An audience at the 2023 KEMRI KASH Conference listens to a presenter.

On 15 February 2023, the Kenya National Centre (NC) – the KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme – of the African Health Observatory – Platform on Health Systems and Policies (AHOP) hosted a policy dialogue (PD) to discuss the role of evidence in informing strategies used during the COVID-19 pandemic. The PD brought together key stakeholders from the health sector, including representatives from the Kenyan Ministry of Health (MoH), County Departments of Health (CDoH), the Council of Governors (CoG), international and development partners, research institutes, and health systems experts.

Optimizing the Ethiopian Health Extension Program: policy options to address workforce challenges

The Ethiopia National Centre of the African Health Observatory Platform on Health Systems and Polices (AHOP) in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) organized and deliberated a policy dialogue on “Optimizing the Ethiopian Health Extension Program: strategies to address workforce challenges”. In the dialogue, participants included representatives from the
FMOH, Regional Health Bureaus (RHB), International Institute of Primary Health Care-Ethiopian (IIPHC) WHO country Office, MOH, Ethiopian Institute of Policy Studies (EIPS), USAID Ethiopia, and Ethiopian Public Health Association (EPHA).