TY - JOUR T1 - Learning Health Systems to Bridge the Evidence-Policy-Practice Gap in Primary Health Care: Lessons From the African Health Initiative JF - Global Health: Science and Practice JO - GLOB HEALTH SCI PRACT DO - 10.9745/GHSP-D-22-00390 VL - 10 IS - Supplement 1 SP - e2200390 AU - Colin Baynes AU - Lola Adedokun AU - John Koku Awoonor-Williams AU - Lisa R. Hirschhorn Y1 - 2022/09/15 UR - http://www.ghspjournal.org/content/10/Supplement_1/e2200390.abstract N2 - Universal health coverage (UHC) can be achieved by strengthening the implementation of public health and clinical policies and programs in health systems.1 For decades, research has established a substantial evidence base on the primary health care interventions that policies should emphasize. Conversely, the need for replicable knowledge on how to transform evidence-based policies into effective large-scale action has received less attention.2 As a corollary, efforts to advance the use of evidence-based interventions (EBIs) in global health are replete with experiences of lengthy delays between the recognition of EBIs and their equitable and high-quality delivery throughout health systems and their integration into policies, which is needed to ensure sustainability.3,4 Demonstrating ways to bridge the gap between the promulgation of sound health policy and changes in real-world practice, including how systems support these changes, is essential to achieving UHC.5 The articles in this Global Health: Science and Practice supplement showcase the experience of action research projects led by policy-implementation-academic partnerships that aimed to address this gap in 3 sub-Saharan African countries: Ethiopia, Ghana, and Mozambique.Implementation leaders can maximize the impact of EBI if they identify and implement delivery strategies that are contextually appropriate, driven by data, and feasible to use and spread within health systems. Moreover, they should include measures to ensure equity and quality of care.6 As the articles in this GHSP supplement discuss, when these strategies are combined with work to generate actionable evidence and facilitate knowledge translation, then bridging the “know-do” gap becomes increasingly attainable.7 For example, in Mozambique, the combination of an audit and feedback intervention led by district health officials with research capacity strengthening of health workers led by local research groups led to improvements in maternal and newborn health EBI implementation in public health facilities.8 Embedded … ER -