Whose evidence counts? Strengthening African health systems

Amid external funding constraints, there is growing consensus for re-imagining the future of domestically funded yet resilient health systems across Africa. To realise this aspiration, evidence-based policy making, which is standard practice across governments and global health agencies, is more critical than ever. Unfortunately, for too long, much of the evidence that guides policy and investment decisions has been, and is still, generated outside Africa. Consequently, there is a wide gap in context-specific data and locally grounded research evidence that threatens efforts to effectively strengthen African health systems.