Through the Africa Health Knowledge Hub, Africa CDC is strengthening how research, data and public health experience are shared and translated into policies, programmes and decisions across the continent.
Africa produces only about 3% of global health research, while an estimated 14% of available evidence informs policy. Evidence-based interventions can also take up to 17 years to be adopted, highlighting the persistent gap between research and its practical application.
To address this gap, the Africa Health Knowledge Hub provides a continental platform for accessing and exchanging scientific evidence, technical resources and lessons from public health programmes. It hosts more than 1,000 knowledge products and has attracted over 260,000 users. The Hub has been accessed from more than 180 countries and supports over 40 communities of practice and discussion forums.
Beyond the digital platform, Africa CDC is supporting Member States in establishing functional knowledge management systems and strengthening the exchange of research findings, innovations, and good practices.
These efforts have reached nine countries: Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Namibia, Nigeria, Tunisia and Uganda, with the longer-term objective of extending the initiative to all 55 African Union Member States.
Complementing these efforts are two other areas of work: evidence generation and translation, which strengthens the use of research in policymaking, and the Journal of Public Health in Africa, which expands opportunities for African researchers to publish scientific findings and contribute to public health discussions.
Together, these initiatives are strengthening Africa’s capacity to generate and use scientific evidence. Africa CDC reports more than 300 high-impact, policy-relevant scientific outputs and has developed and validated a Continental Knowledge Management Strategy and Framework and a Continental Knowledge Translation Guideline to support implementation.
Building on this progress, Africa CDC is working to expand national knowledge management systems, strengthen capacity for evidence generation and synthesis, and harness digital technologies and artificial intelligence to improve knowledge access and exchange.
Through collaboration with Member States and partners, including the Rockefeller Foundation, the Mastercard Foundation and the World Bank, these efforts aim to ensure that African-generated knowledge increasingly informs public health policies, programmes and interventions.
