Discussion of the role of advocacy in health research communication drawing on the experience of Healthlink Worldwide

2. Health research and advocacy
Creating change
By Andrew Chetley
Director of Programmes
Healthlink Worldwide
Irish Forum for Global Health
September 2006

3. What is advocacy?
Process to:
 bring about change in the policies, laws and practices
of influential individuals, groups and institutions
(International HIV/AIDS Alliance, Zimbabwe, 2001)
 influence policy and decision makers, to fight for social
change, to transform public perceptions and attitudes,
to modify behaviours, or to mobilise human and
financial resources. (GAVI)
 use information strategically to change policies that
affect the lives of disadvantaged people. (BOND)
 change attitudes, actions, policies and laws by
influencing people and organisations with power,
systems and structures at different levels for the
betterment of people affected by the issue. (India
HIV/AIDS Alliance, 2002)

4. What is advocacy? (2)
 take action directed at changing the policies,
positions and programmes of any type of
institution. (SARA Project)
 plead for, defend or recommend an idea before
other people. (SARA Project)
 speak up, draw attention to an issue, win the
support of key constituencies in order to influence
policies and spending, and bring about change.
(WHO TB Programme)
Advocacy is about influencing or changing
relationships of power (World Bank)

5. Whose voices are heard?
 Representation: speaking on behalf
of the voiceless (for)
 Mobilisation: encouraging others to
speak with you (with)
 Empowerment: supporting the
voiceless to speak for themselves
(by)

6. Whose agendas?
 Northern agency; Southern citizen
 PRSPs in Nicaragua
 PRSPs in Uganda
 Perspectives of health workers and
community members
 Rational drug use in the Philippines
 Maternal health in Cambodia
 TB patients in Tanzania
 Tribal populations in India

7. Whose evidence counts?
 CSOs provide useful health research
on:
 underlying determinants of health
 health systems implementation and
intervention studies
 strategies for policy change.
 Sanders, et al, 2004 Bull WHO

8. Using the evidence
 Networking – increasing the
chances and the conversations
 Champions and connectors
 Building influencing capacity –
Ugandan Network of Researchers
and Research Users
 Building alliances – GEGA
 Communication, integration,
evaluation

9. Enabling voices to be heard
 Healthlink works to improve the health
and well-being of disadvantaged and
vulnerable communities in developing
countries.
 It does this by strengthening the ability of
vulnerable communities to identify and
communicate effectively their own needs
and priorities and by enabling their voices
to be heard.

10. Healthlink helps communities:
 participate in the development and
delivery of community-based
services
 represent themselves and
participate in public dialogue
 strengthen their own capacity to
communicate and be included in
decision making processes
 influence decision-makers directly.

11. Our programmes:
 facilitate community and policy dialogues
 develop innovative tools and techniques
for strengthening communication and
learning
 support the development of local level
communication strategies and information
centres on major development issues
 provide capacity development in health
communication, advocacy, knowledge
management and learning

12. More information
 www.healthlink.org.uk
 www.asksource.info
(Source is an international information
support centre which strengthens the
management, use and impact of
information on health, disability and other
development topics.)