African Health Observatory - Platform on Health Systems & Policies

A collaborative partnership fostering cross-country learning to promote knowledge exchange and evidence-informed policy-making

AHOP is hosted by the World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa (WHO AFRO), which serves as the regional secretariat. The partnership leverages existing national and regional collaborations to form a network of National Centres across the region. These leading research institutions serve as the focal points for analysis and knowledge brokering within each country. National Centres lead the technical work of the Platform, supported by and working with other partners to access primary research, academic networks, and expertise.

The Platform’s consortium includes the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), and other national, regional, and global partners. AHOP is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Additional donors are expected to join as the Platform’s activities expand.

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Observatory model

The Platform joins the cohort of regional health systems observatories including the European Observatory on Health Systems & Policies and the Asia-Pacific Observatory (APO), which have shared lessons learned and approaches to inform the development of AHOP. This evolving global model of knowledge brokering creates opportunities to compare and contrast health systems characteristics between countries and regions worldwide. AHOP is also aligned to and hosted by WHO AFRO’s intergrated African Health Observatory (iAHO).

AHOP outputs

The Platform is focused on the generation and exchange of knowledge and evidence for health systems and policy development in the African region. We produce a range of health systems analysis at the national and regional level, focusing on evidence for action.

Policy Briefs: summaries of evidence on issues of regional relevance, tailored to the needs of health policymakers across countries.
In-Depth Comparative Studies: original cross-country analysis on selected health policy and systems issues, using both primary and/or secondary data.
Country Profiles (CHSSP): detailed reviews of a country’s health system, performance, and policy initiatives.
Policy Dialogues: highly focused events with a small group of policymakers and key stakeholders to provide a platform for knowledge exchange and mutual learning.
Journal Publications: peer-reviewed articles that have been published based on original work done with AHOP.
AHOP Insights: a range of comparative, cross-country analysis and insights from AHOP.