National Planning Commission (NPC) has called for closer collaboration between biostatistics researchers and policy makers to enhance evidence-based decision-making and improve Malawi’s health systems.
The call was made during a Health Policy and Biostatistics Research Engagement Workshop held in Salima, which brought together researchers, policy makers, and other key stakeholders from the health sector.
Participants at the workshop noted a significant gap between research and policy implementation.
They observed that although the government has developed strategic frameworks such as the National Research Agenda, many researchers and institutions are yet to align their studies with these national priorities.
It was also pointed out that a number of research projects lack cost-benefit analyses, limiting their usefulness in guiding policy and investment decisions.
NPC acting Director for Knowledge and Learning, Andrew Jamali, warned that the health sector will continue to face recurring challenges if research fails to generate practical and actionable solutions to emerging health issues and disease outbreaks.
University of Malawi Vice Chancellor, Professor Samson Sajidu, echoed the call for stronger engagement, stressing that research findings need to be simplified so that policy makers can easily interpret and apply them.
The Programme Director for the Sub-Saharan Africa Consortium for Advanced Biostatistics (SSACAB), Tobias Chirwa, further emphasized the value of regional collaboration among biostatisticians, noting that such partnerships can enhance the use of data in shaping effective public health policies.
The workshop was aimed at bridging the gap between research and policy, ensuring that scientific evidence directly contributes to improving health outcomes for Malawians.
