Systems of Evidence to Improve Health Policy in Africa (SEIHPA)
A three-year comparative research programme studying and strengthening evidence advisory systems in African health policymaking.
Countries: Uganda, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, UK
Dates: 1 March 2025 – 21 Feb 2028
PROJECT OVERVIEW
SEIHPA investigates how evidence advisory systems - the structures, institutions, and processes through which scientific evidence reaches health policymakers - function in African settings, and how they can be strengthened. For almost all aspects of health policy and planning, there is a need to inform decisions with robust, policy-appropriate evidence. This is a particular challenge in lower-income settings, which may have limited capacity but which could benefit greatly from robust use of scientific research and innovation.
While considerable work has focused on translating individual pieces of research or training individuals to use evidence, far less attention has been given to the systems of evidence provision as a whole. Just as global health had to move beyond disease-specific programmes towards health systems thinking, a similar shift is now needed in the evidence space - from isolated knowledge-translation efforts to a holistic understanding of evidence advisory systems.
This research works directly with government stakeholders across four African countries to co-produce research questions, develop locally relevant analytical frameworks, and facilitate institutional improvements that can ultimately improve health policymaking and outcomes.
If you have any queries or want to get in touch about SEIHPA, contact our project manager, Rabecca Musiega, at R.M.Musiega@lse.ac.uk.
OUR OBJECTIVES
- Map national evidence advisory systems, institutional arrangements, and cultures of evidence at national and local government levels across four countries.
- Co-produce a conceptual framework , with key senior stakeholders , to evaluate the structure and functioning of evidence advisory systems in African settings.
- Comparative analysis of how these systems operate in relation to two contrasting health policy challenges: Universal Health Coverage and COVID-19.
- Develop and monitor action plans with national stakeholders, facilitating peer-to-peer learning to drive improvements in evidence systems throughout the project.
CASE STUDIES
SEIHPA uses two contrasting health policy challenges as empirical lenses through which to examine how evidence advisory systems function in practice. Together they allow within-country and between-country comparison across a long-term policy goal and a rapid-onset crisis. These case studies provide contrasting policy contexts that help reveal how evidence systems function under different political, institutional, and public health conditions.
UHC is a major goal for all four case-study countries, each currently at a middle level of UHC service coverage according to UN indicators. Achieving it requires sustained, evidence-informed policymaking across health services, financing, and equity - yet it typically unfolds within highly politicised environments shaped by competing social priorities and fluctuating donor support.
The differing policy trajectories of Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, and Uganda in relation to UHC provide a comparative design to examine how countries draw on — or fail to embed - expertise over time, and what structural features of their evidence systems support or hinder progress.
COVID-19 offers a contrasting case: a rapidly unfolding event that required real-time scientific guidance for immediate policy decisions. All four countries faced a common threat with similar timing, making the variation in their responses particularly informative about how differing evidence system structures shaped outcomes.
Rwanda's notably proactive response and use of innovative approaches, Malawi's resource-constrained challenges, and the distinct trajectories of Kenya and Uganda together illuminate how systems of evidence provision can be better structured to address future health emergencies.
PROJECT PARTNERS
SEIHPA is a partnership between:
PROJECT TEAM
Dr Justin Parkhurst – Principal Investigator
Dr Freddie Ssengooba – Co Principal Investigator
Dr Benjamin Tsofa – Co-Investigator
Dr Rhona Mijumbi – Co-Investigator
Dr Janna Schurer – Co-Investigator
Dr Anita Musiega – Research Fellow
Dr Susan Babirye – Research Fellow
Ms Rabecca Musiega – Project Manager
Moriasi Nyanchoka - Research Officer
PROJECT FUNDING
SEIHPA is funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research as a Global Health Research Project/Programme.