An assessment of perceived prioritisation and resource allocation for health policy and systems research in West Africa

This study examined the perceived prioritisation, and resource allocation for HPSR in West Africa. The majority of the study participants were from ministries of health in their countries. All countries except Sierra Leone had a program dedicated to health policy research and/or health planning/program research. The findings showed that there was no specific funding for health research nor HPSR in most countries and a mixed model (demand and supply led) was employed in most instances. HPSR was only considered a priority in two of the nine countries and specific funding for it was non-existent in all nine countries. In all countries, donor agencies played predominant roles in setting health research priorities and resource allocation decisions. Infectious disease and maternal/child health research were the research categories with the highest level of funding. There was limited capacity for HPSR, with a pronounced gap between researchers and policy makers.

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Uneke, C. J, Ijeoma N. O. A, Ermel A J, Ifeyinwa C. A, Onyedikachi E. C, Irene I. E, and Bilikis I. U. An assessment of perceived prioritisation and resource allocation for health policy and systems research in West Africa. Public Health Res Pract. 31(4):e3142122 (2021). https://doi.org/10.17061/phrp3142122