Engaging stakeholders to identify gaps and develop strategies to inform evidence use for health policymaking in Nigeria.

Abstract

Background: Recent efforts to bridge the evidence-policy gap in low- and middle-income countries has seen growing interest from key audiences such as government, civil society, international organizations, private sector players, academia, and media. One of such engagements was a two-day virtual participant-driven unconference (the convening) in Nigeria. The aim of the convening was to develop strategies for improving evidence use in health policy. The convening witnessed a participant blend of health policymakers, researchers, political policymakers, philanthropists, global health practitioners, program officers, students and the media. Methods: In this study, we analyzed conversations at the convening with the aim to disseminate findings to key stakeholders in Nigeria. The recordings from the convening were transcribed and analyzed inductively to identify emerging themes, which were interpreted, and inferences drawn. Results: A total of 630 people attended the convening. Participants joined in from 13 countries. Participants identified poor collaboration between researchers and policymakers, poor community involvement in research and policy processes, poor funding for research and inequalities as key factors inhibiting the use of evidence for policymaking in Nigeria. Strategies proposed to address these challenges include the use of participatory and embedded research methods, leveraging existing systems and networks, advocating for improved funding and ownership for research, and the use of context-sensitive knowledge translation strategies. Conclusion: Overall, better interaction among the various stakeholders will improve the evidence generation, translation and use in Nigeria. A road map for dissemination of findings from this unconference has been developed for implementation across the strata of the health system.