Health experts have advised Nigeria and other countries across the region to increase efforts towards adopting evidence-based healthcare practice.
They gave the advice in Abuja during the 4th Cochrane Africa conference, and launch of Cochrane Nigeria.
WHO Country Representative for Nigeria, Dr. Walter Kazadi Mutombo , said evidence-based decision and policy making in health would improve health outcomes.
He said evidence-based decision making has become a benchmark for best practices, adding that the World Health Report on Universal Health Coverage (UHC) 2013, emphasizes that UHC cannot be achieved without evidence provided through scientific research.
Professor Mohammed Sambo, Executive Secretary, National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), said for Nigeria, and Africa, to ensure universal access to quality and affordable healthcare and leave no one behind, there must be a paradigm shift towards evidence-based decision making for healthcare.
He said there was need to build necessary capacity and invest resources in research across Africa by strengthening relevant institutions to generate evidence for decision-making.
Dr Anthony Ayaike, the Health Adviser to the European Union Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS said it is important for Nigeria to institutionalize research.
He said the launch of Cochrane Nigeria is a laudable advancement in the field of health research, knowledge and evidence generation as well as policy making in the health sector.
“This is in cognizance of the work of Cochrane globally in terms of evidence generation, through systematic reviews of primary research and healthcare that has informed policies and plans. This, in turn, contributes to progress towards universal health coverage, and health-related Sustainable Development Goal three.”
On his part, Dr Jafaru Momoh , Chief Medical Director of the National Hospital, Abuja said that Cochrane Nigeria would enable researchers in Nigeria , and across the sub-region to participate in a systematic review of research and also review the work of their peers published worldwide.
