Establishment of a National Immunization Technical Advisory Group in Côte d’Ivoire: Process and lessons learned

Blau, Julia J. C.; Faye, P; Senouci, Kamel; Dagnan, S.; Douba, Alfred; Saracino, Jeanine Tagliante; Gessner, Bradford D.

doi:10.1016/j.vaccine.2012.01.066

Cited by 11 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…An interesting finding of this review is that lessstructured types of knowledge, such as advice (n = 11) and inputs from civil society (n = 4), were used for policy-making purposes. The role of advice, particularly in the form of technical guidance, was pronounced in studies concerning vaccines [48,49], health technology assessment [50][51][52] and pharmaceutical policy [53]. WHO seems to be well-positioned in this process as some studies focused on its ability to establish technical guidelines and convene diverse groups of stakeholders [53][54][55][56].…”

Section: Types Of Knowledgementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The boundaries between these three dimensions of institutionalising knowledge for policy-making are not always clear. Vaccine advisory committees [48,49,76], health technology assessment programmes [50][51][52]70] and drug policy [53,68,69,77] are established with normative aims, meanih that the recommendations are not binding but rather provide an indication of how policymakers should behave. However, they appear at times to have a regulative (legislative) basis for their formation, even if their recommendations are not binding.…”

Section: Institutionalisationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A scoping review of the uses and institutionalisation of knowledge for health policy in low- and middle-income countries

Koon

Windmeyer

Bigdeli

et al. 2020

Health Res Policy Sys

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There is growing interest in how different forms of knowledge can strengthen policy-making in low-and middleincome country (LMIC) health systems. Additionally, health policy and systems researchers are increasingly aware of the need to design effective institutions for supporting knowledge utilisation in LMICs. To address these interwoven agendas, this scoping review uses the Arskey and O'Malley framework to review the literature on knowledge utilisation in LMIC health systems, using eight public health and social science databases. Articles that described the process for how knowledge was used in policy-making, specified the type of knowledge used, identified actors involved (individual, organisation or professional), and were set in specific LMICs were included. A total of 53 articles, from 1999 to 2016 and representing 56 countries, were identified. The majority of articles in this review presented knowledge utilisation as utilisation of research findings, and to a lesser extent routine health system data, survey data and technical advice. Most of the articles centered on domestic public sector employees and their interactions with civil society representatives, international stakeholders or academics in utilising epistemic knowledge for policy-making in LMICs. Furthermore, nearly all of the articles identified normative dimensions of institutionalisation. While there is some evidence of how different uses and institutionalisation of knowledge can strengthen health systems, the evidence on how these processes can ultimately improve health outcomes remains unclear. Further research on the ways in which knowledge can be effectively utilised and institutionalised is needed to advance the collective understanding of health systems strengthening and enhance evidence-informed policy formulation.

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Section: Types Of Knowledgementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Institutionalisationmentioning

confidence: 99%

A scoping review of the uses and institutionalisation of knowledge for health policy in low- and middle-income countries

Koon

Windmeyer

Bigdeli

et al. 2020

Health Res Policy Sys

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…The initiative has also helped seven countries to strengthen their pre-existing NITAGs, and agreement for support has been reached with a further 14 countries over the next 2 years (See Table 1 and Map 1). The criteria for country selection has been discussed elsewhere [7,8], as have the methodologies and processes for establishing NITAGs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Supporting countries in establishing and strengthening NITAGs: Lessons learned from 5 years of the SIVAC initiative

Adjagba¹,

Senouci²,

Biellik³

et al. 2015

Vaccine

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To empower governments to formulate rational policies without pressure from any group, and to increase the use of evidence-based decision-making to adapt global recommendations on immunization to their local context, the WHO has recommended on multiple occasions that countries should establish National Immunization Technical Advisory Groups (NITAGs). The World Health Assembly (WHA) reinforced those recommendations in 2012 when Member States endorsed the Decade of Vaccines Global Vaccine Action Plan (GVAP). NITAGs are multidisciplinary groups of national experts responsible for providing independent, evidence-informed advice to health authorities on all policy-related issues for all vaccines across all populations. In 2012, according to the WHO-UNICEF Joint Reporting Form, among 57 countries eligible for immunization program financial support from the GAVI Alliance, only 9 reported having a functional NITAG. Since 2008, the Supporting Independent Immunization and Vaccine Advisory Committees (SIVAC) Initiative (at the Agence de Médecine Préventive or AMP) in close collaboration with the WHO and other partners has been working to accelerate and systematize the establishment of NITAGs in low- and middle-income countries. In addition to providing direct support to countries to establish advisory groups, the initiative also supports existing NITAGs to strengthen their capacity in the use of evidence-based processes for decision-making aligned with international standards. After 5 years of implementation and based on lessons learned, we recommend that future efforts should target both expanding new NITAGs and strengthening existing NITAGs in individual countries, along three strategic lines: (i) reinforce NITAG institutional integration to promote sustainability and credibility, (ii) build technical capacity within NITAG secretariats and evaluate NITAG performance, and (iii) increase networking and regional collaborations. These should be done through the development and dissemination of tools and guidelines, and information through a variety of adapted mechanisms.

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“…In Benin, Dossou et al [48] assessed user fees for caesarean sections and observed that policy development process suffered from inadequate uptake of evidence largely because the policy content and process were not completely in harmony with political goals. In Côte d'Ivoire, Blau et al [49] noted that a major success factor of the National Immunization Technical Advisory Group (NITAG) in promoting effective immunization policy was the strong political will from the government. After identifying the relevant sources of evidence, the next step is to search and retrieve the needed evidence to be used in the policy process.…”

Section: Consider Political Acceptability Of the Policymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Other recommended mechanisms similar to the HPAC which are capable of facilitating evidence to policy process are policy technical groups and policy steering committees. In Côte d'Ivoire, Blau et al [49] described the tremendous success a National Immunization Technical Advisory Group (NITAG) achieved in promoting evidence to policy process regarding immunization and vaccines. Similarly, in Ghana, Howard et al [68] examined the functionality of NITAG and noted that the NITAGs had an important and valued role within national immunization decision-making.…”

Section: Perform Stakeholders' Analysis and Convene Stakeholders' Engagmentioning

confidence: 99%

Promoting the use of evidence in health policymaking in the ECOWAS region: the development and contextualization of an evidence-based policymaking guidance

Uneke

Sombié

Johnson

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Background The Economic Commission of the West African States (ECOWAS), through her specialised health Institution, the West African Health Organization (WAHO) is supporting Members States to improve health outcomes in West Africa. There is a global recognition that evidence-based health policies are vital towards achieving continued improvement in health outcomes. The need to have a tool that will provide systematic guide on the use of evidence in policymaking necessitated the production of the evidence-based policy-making (EBPM) Guidance. Methods Google search was performed to identify existing guidance on EBPM. Lessons were drawn from the review of identified guidance documents. Consultation, interaction and interviews were held with policymakers from the 15 West African countries during WAHO organized regional meetings in Senegal, Nigeria, and Burkina Faso. The purpose was to elicit their views on the strategies to promote the use of evidence in policymaking to be included in the EBPM Guidance. A regional Guidance Validation Meeting for West African policymakers was thereafter convened by WAHO to review findings from review of existing guidance documents and validate the EBPM Guidance. Results Out of the 250 publications screened, six publications fulfilled the study inclusion criteria and were reviewed. Among the important issues highlighted include: what evidence informed decision-making is; different types of research methods, designs and approaches, and how to judge the quality of research. The identified main target end users of the EBPM Guidance are policy/decision makers in the West African sub-region, at local, sub-national, national and regional levels. Among the key recommendations included in the EBPM Guidance include: properly defining/refining policy problem; reviewing contextual issues; initiating policy priority setting; considering political acceptability of policy; commissioning research; use of rapid response services, use of policy advisory/technical/steering committees; and use of policy briefs and policy dialogue. Conclusion The EBPM Guidance is one of the emerging tools that can enhance the understanding of evidence to policy process. The strategies to facilitate the use of evidence in policymaking outlined in the Guidance, can be adapted to local context, and incorporated validated approaches that can be used to promote evidence-to-policy-to-practice process in West Africa.

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Establishment of a National Immunization Technical Advisory Group in Côte d’Ivoire: Process and lessons learned

Cited by 11 publications

References 2 publications

A scoping review of the uses and institutionalisation of knowledge for health policy in low- and middle-income countries

A scoping review of the uses and institutionalisation of knowledge for health policy in low- and middle-income countries

Supporting countries in establishing and strengthening NITAGs: Lessons learned from 5 years of the SIVAC initiative

Promoting the use of evidence in health policymaking in the ECOWAS region: the development and contextualization of an evidence-based policymaking guidance

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