The Economic Commission of the West African States (ECOWAS), through her specialised health Institution, the West African Health Organization (WAHO) is supporting Members States to improve health outcomes in West Africa. There is a global recognition that evidence-based health policies are vital towards achieving continued improvement in health outcomes. The need to have a tool that will provide systematic guide on the use of evidence in policymaking necessitated the production of the evidence-based policy-making (EBPM) Guidance. Google search was performed to identify existing guidance on EBPM. Lessons were drawn from the review of identified guidance documents. Consultation, interaction and interviews were held with policymakers from the 15 West African countries during WAHO organized regional meetings in Senegal, Nigeria, and Burkina Faso. The purpose was to elicit their views on the strategies to promote the use of evidence in policymaking to be included in the EBPM Guidance. A regional Guidance Validation Meeting for West African policymakers was thereafter convened by WAHO to review findings from review of existing guidance documents and validate the EBPM Guidance. Out of the 250 publications screened, six publications fulfilled the study inclusion criteria and were reviewed. Among the important issues highlighted include: what evidence informed decision-making is; different types of research methods, designs and approaches, and how to judge the quality of research. The identified main target end users of the EBPM Guidance are policy/decision makers in the West African sub-region, at local, sub-national, national and regional levels. Among the key recommendations included in the EBPM Guidance include: properly defining/refining policy problem; reviewing contextual issues; initiating policy priority setting; considering political acceptability of policy; commissioning research; use of rapid response services, use of policy advisory/technical/steering committees; and use of policy briefs and policy dialogue. The EBPM Guidance is one of the emerging tools that can enhance the understanding of evidence to policy process. The strategies to facilitate the use of evidence in policymaking outlined in the Guidance, can be adapted to local context, and incorporated validated approaches that can be used to promote evidence-to-policy-to-practice process in West Africa.

中文翻译：

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在西非经共体区域促进在卫生决策中使用证据：制定和根据情境制定决策指南。

西非国家经济委员会（ECOWAS）通过其专门的卫生机构，西非卫生组织（WAHO）支持会员国改善西非的卫生状况。全球公认基于证据的卫生政策对于持续改善健康结果至关重要。需要一种工具来提供有关在决策中使用证据的系统指南，因此需要制定基于证据的决策（EBPM）指南。进行了Google搜索，以确定有关EBPM的现有指南。从已查明的指导文件审查中吸取了教训。在WAHO在尼日利亚塞内加尔和布基纳法索组织的区域会议期间，与来自15个西非国家的决策者进行了磋商，互动和访谈。目的是征求他们对将决策中使用证据的策略纳入EBPM指南的观点。随后，WAHO召开了一次针对西非政策制定者的地区性指南验证会议，以审查对现有指南文件的审核结果并验证EBPM指南。在筛选的250个出版物中，有6个满足研究纳入标准并进行了审查。重点突出的重要问题包括：何种证据有助于决策制定；不同类型的研究方法，设计和方法，以及如何判断研究质量。EBPM指南中确定的主要目标最终用户是西非分区域，地方，国家以下，国家和地区各级的政策/决策者。EBPM指南中包括的主要建议包括：正确定义/完善政策问题；审查上下文问题；启动策略优先级设置；考虑政策的政治可接受性；委托研究；使用快速响应服务，使用政策咨询/技术/指导委员会；以及使用政策简介和政策对话。EBPM指南是可以增强对政策过程证据的理解的新兴工具之一。该指南中概述的促进在决策中使用证据的策略可以根据当地情况进行调整，并纳入可以用来促进西非证据到政策到实践过程的经过验证的方法。启动策略优先级设置；考虑政策的政治可接受性；委托研究；使用快速响应服务，使用政策咨询/技术/指导委员会；以及使用政策简介和政策对话。EBPM指南是可以增强对政策过程证据的理解的新兴工具之一。该指南中概述的促进在决策中使用证据的策略可以根据当地情况进行调整，并纳入可以用来促进西非证据到政策到实践过程的经过验证的方法。启动策略优先级设置；考虑政策的政治可接受性；委托研究；使用快速响应服务，使用政策咨询/技术/指导委员会；以及使用政策简介和政策对话。EBPM指南是可以增强对政策过程证据的理解的新兴工具之一。该指南中概述的促进在决策中使用证据的策略可以根据当地情况进行调整，并纳入可以用于促进西非证据到政策到实践过程的经过验证的方法。EBPM指南是可以增强对政策过程证据的理解的新兴工具之一。该指南中概述的促进在决策中使用证据的策略可以根据当地情况进行调整，并纳入可以用来促进西非证据到政策到实践过程的经过验证的方法。EBPM指南是可以增强对政策过程证据的理解的新兴工具之一。该指南中概述的促进在决策中使用证据的策略可以根据当地情况进行调整，并纳入可以用来促进西非证据到政策到实践过程的经过验证的方法。