A new coalition aiming to accelerate the integration and institutionalization of evidence into decision-making launched during the Global Evidence Summit in Prague last week.
The Global Coalition for Evidence is adopting an approach that is grounded in collaboration, coordination, and consolidation of efforts of key global and regional actors in the evidence ecosystem to empower governments, professionals, and civil society to make well-informed decisions for healthier futures.
“In the context of the health challenges the world is facing today, the lack of collaboration across sectors and workstreams, disconnection among key players and duplication of work all hinder the development of rapid and robust solutions to improve the health of populations” said Tanja Kuchenmuller, Unit Head, Evidence to Policy and Impact, Research for Health Department, WHO, adding “The Coalition seeks to streamline these efforts, break down silos, and maximize the impact of evidence-informed decision-making to improve health outcomes.”
Accurate and timely translation of evidence is essential to promote population health and protect against threats to health, such as antimicrobial resistance, climate change, and rising economic and social inequalities, as well as future crises.
During the launch event, a panel of experts, moderated by Fadi El-Jardali, Professor of Health Policy and Systems, Faculty of Health Sciences, American University of Beirut, Lebanon, presented real world examples and their experiences of bridging and institutionalizing evidence-informed decision-making in a range of countries. They discussed challenges and opportunities for the Coalition.
Fadi El-Jardali opened the roundtable discussion, “While the health sector is frequently seen as the pioneer of evidence-informed decision-making, much work remains to be done to strengthen the institutionalization of evidence-informed decision-making and integrate different forms of evidence at global, regional, and national levels” and stated that critical questions remain, “How can we institutionalize evidence-informed decision-making across various disciplines and stakeholders in health? What structures and incentives are needed to break down silos and foster long-term cross-disciplinary collaboration? This is where the Coalition’s unifying platform becomes essential.”
Firmaye Bogale Wolde, Researcher, Knowledge Translation Division, Ethiopian Public Health Institute, Ethiopia, said “the lack of standardization of evidence-informed decision-making processes became clear during the COVID-19 pandemic when the need for evidence was high but there was minimal and, at times, no consensus on what the decision-making process should be” adding “The Coalition can play a key role in pooling resources and serving as a platform for liked-minded partners who, alongside WHO, support the scale-up of standardized evidence-informed decision-making processes for a more consistent, and reliable approach.”
The Coalition builds on WHO’s existing work on evidence-informed decision-making,and emerged from a joint call of the Global Evidence-to-Policy Summits held in 2021 and 2023. It is composed of a secretariat, steering committee, and four working groups that will support realisation of the Coalition’s mission and objectives.