Health and Wellbeing

Most African governments are not spending enough on health care. As a result, the SDG 3 targets of universal health coverage and financial risk protection by 2030 are unlikely to be achieved. Without strong health systems, African countries are unlikely to make significant progress on persistent health challenges as well as emerging epidemics such as non-communicable diseases, antimicrobial resistance, neglected tropical diseases and many others.

AFIDEP’s focus on health is to provide capacity strengthening and technical assistance for evidence-informed decision-making. Specifically, we focus on:

  • Designing of inclusive health policies and programmes as well as performance monitoring of existing interventions
  • Achieving universal access to primary healthcare, health financing and financial risk protection, including access to health insurance
  • Addressing inequalities in health outcomes, including for under-served sub-groups such as persons living with disability and older people
  • Universal access to sexual and reproductive health and rights, elimination of harmful practices and gender-based violence, and promotion of adolescents’ wellbeing
  • AFIDEP supported Kenya’s Ministry of Health to conceptualise and define a Knowledge Translation Platform (KTP), drawing on lessons of existing KTPs around Africa. With support from the WHO, AFIDEP, World Bank and other partners, the Ministry launched the Kenya Health and Research Observatory (KHRO), on January 22, 2020 in Nairobi, Kenya.
  • Developed Guidelines for policymakers in Kenya and Malawi Ministries of Health which were adopted for use by the governments.
  • The project developed an evidence-informed policy-making training (EIPM) course to respond to the challenge of weak capacity among decision-makers to find and use evidence in decision-making.
  • In Kenya, AFIDEP developed and operationalised a performance monitoring and accountability framework and an integrated scorecard to be used by local governments in the country’s 47 counties. These tools allow for collection of data on Reproductive, Maternal Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health (RMNCAH), Gender Based Violence and HIV in Kenya.
  • In Malawi, synthesis and translation of evidence and policy dialogue on child marriages led to a commitment by the government to end the practice by 2027. In addition, through AFIDEP’s work with the parliamentary committee for health, Malawi Government created a budget line for family planning and increased budget for the health sectors.

Current Projects

February 2016 to Present

DELTAS Africa sought to support African-led development of internationally competitive researchers working across sub-Saharan Africa, headed by world-class leaders. One of its four objectives is to foster engagement with the public and policy stakeholders.

October 2020 to Present

African driven advocacy platform to facilitate informed, objective, inclusive and balanced discussions on the design, development and use of transformative technologies to address key health challenges in sub-Saharan Africa

October 2020 to Present

Back-On-Track seeks to use data and evidence to develop a roadmap of essential interventions that have the greatest potential to change people’s lives and to help countries deliver on SDGs commitments.

 

May 2020 to Present

LIGHT is a six-year cross-disciplinary global health research programme funded with UK aid from the UK government.

LIGHT aims to provide new evidence on the effectiveness of different gender-sensitive pathways and approaches to health for those with TB in urban, HIV-prevalent settings.

The initiative will contribute to global health security and improved health, socio-economic and equity outcomes, boosting efforts to stop the spread of TB.

September 2021 to Present

The project aims to control vector borne diseases (VBDs) in emerging agricultural systems in Malawi.

 

Past Projects

November 2013 to January 2017

This project sought to optimise individual and institutional capacity of health policymakers and legislators in accessing and utilising health research evidence in decision-making in Kenya and Malawi.

June 2017 to April 2021

The IMPALA project intended to expand the scientific knowledge and implementable solutions for issues related to lung health in Africa. More specifically, AFIDEP’s role on IMPALA was to have other lung health diseases and not just TB, on the regional health policy agenda.

February 2018 to November 2021

The PIIVeC work package on policy analysis and evidence uptake, which AFIDEP was a co-lead, had the overall objectives to accelerate research uptake using evidence synthesis and policy analysis, and to strengthen linkages between vector control research and policy at the global, regional, national, and project levels.

November 2018 to December 2021

ARCS aimed to improve the survival and quality of life of sepsis patients using relevant innovations at the individual and health system level, through multidisciplinary applied health research. AFIDEP’s role on ARCS was to raise awareness of sepsis as a priority and cross-cutting health systems issue.

March 2015 to October 2017

The project aim was to address the need and gap for alternative health financing in order to increase uptake and sustainability of HIV and other health services. The project looked into fostering an enabling policy environment for this to happen in selected strategic border areas and transport corridor sites in East, Central and Southern Africa (ECSA region).

March 2018 to June 2022

DRUM was a consortium whose aim was to transform the understanding of the drivers of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in Uganda and Malawi, and design interventions to reduce AMR spread.

February 2019 to May 2020

The project aimed to provide a better understanding of the major causes of teenage pregnancy in Malawi, and identify best practices, interventions, policy and programme recommendations to address the issue.

August 2019 to March 2023

The HIGH-Res project was a collaborative programme that aimed to strengthen institutional capacity for the use of health research in policy and programme decisions in Kenya, Malawi and Uganda. This was achieved through the design, implementation and continuous evaluation of innovative and politically responsive interventions within the Ministries of Health (MoHs) in the three countries.

March 2020 to December 2020

PTLD built on existing collaborations between the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM) and the African Institute for Development Policy (AFIDEP) to explore patient-centred models of post-TB care in Malawi and Kenya. It aimed at engaging stakeholders in discussions, through workshops and interviews, toward improving the healthcare of tuberculosis survivors and making use of collaborative approaches with key stakeholders.

July 2020 to June 2021

Enhance DELTAS was a programme led by the African Institute for Development Policy (AFIDEP) which provided research uptake and policy engagement support to awardees of the Developing Excellence in Leadership, Training and Science (DELTAS) Africa initiative, led by the African Academy of Sciences.

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