What transpired during the fourth Global Health Systems symposium? 

By Angela Kisakye

Last week the KTNET Africa team, researchers from the different research coalitions funded by WOTRO, as well as representatives from WOTRO had an opportunity to participate in the recently concluded Global Health Systems Symposium in Vancouver Canada. The theme for the symposium was ‘resilient and responsive health systems for a changing world.’ It was not only a great opportunity for researchers to share their findings at a global platform but also a chance for participants to lead in a number of satellite sessions.  

In a session on Knowledge Translation (KT) experiences and lessons learned promoting KT in Africa, Dr Suzanne Kiwanuka,  talked about how to build capacity of researchers and create links between researchers and their key stakeholders to promote KT. Dr Valery Ridde  talked about lessons from francophone Africa as an engaged researcher to stimulate knowledge uptake using multiple innovative formats. Dr Rose Oronje talked about engaging the busy policy maker with research evidence and how to navigate the policy making arena and Ms Esther McSween Cadieux talked about the value of, approaches to and and lessons from evaluating KT activities.

A panel of experts discussing KT experiences and lessons learned promoting KT in Africa

Among the major achievements in Vancouver was the successful launch of the WOTRO program by Dr. Stephen Matlin (a member of the WOTRO steering Committee). The book shares the impact and lessons learned from implementing the Global Health Policy and Health Systems Research (GHPHSR) in low and middle-income countries. It also gives a description of each of the different research programs funded by WOTRO, their intervention strategies as well as a summary of what each program has been able to do in order to influence policy.  In addition, the book highlights success stories from KTNET Africa and what it takes o create a successful network and maintain collaborations. A full copy of the GHPHSR publication below can be accessed online at www.nwo.nl/global-health.

The GHPHSR Publication: Impact and Lessons Learned