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WEBINAR: Informing an equitable pandemic response with social science evidence – strategies and recommendations for researchers, policy actors and funders
Africa’s pandemic response efforts will remain incomplete without fully integrating social science into policy and planning. This was the central message from a recent webinar co-hosted by the Africa Pandemic Sciences Collaborative and the Kenya National Public Health Institute.
Titled Integrating Social Science Evidence for Pandemics Policy Making, the webinar delved into continent-wide experiences of dealing with pandemics to understand how social science contributes to pandemic preparedness and response in practice.
Two social scientists, Teklu Cherkose (Armauer Hansen Research Institute) and Professor Kellen Kiambati (Karatina University), presented an arguement from their research and practise on why this shift is overdue – and how it can be achieved.
Mr Cherkose focused on COVID-19 response in Kenya and Ethiopia, highlighting the social sciences evidence behind specific policy interventions – including rapid household surveys that revealed income and food insecurity. Supported by theoretical framing, he outlined the relevance of social science evidence to pandemic policy: from understanding public behaviour and building trust to addressing inequalities worsened by pandemics and improving feedback loops.
Mr Cherkose also identified existing gaps in the use of social sciences evidence, including the deployment of “ad hoc” and reactive measures. His recommendations to policy actors, researchers and funding partners also included advocacy for the institutionalisation of social science capacity.
“National emergency management institutions should establish permanent, interdisciplinary units that brings social, behavioural and biomedical expertise together, not just during a crisis, but as critical parts of health systems planning. These units will ensure that social science and epidemiological evidence is combined in managing outbreaks from the start,” said Mr Cherkose.
Professor Kiambati reinforced these messages by drawing on practical experiences from her research working with communities. Like Mr Cherkose, she, too, highlighted institutionalisation as a strategy. Consolidating the use of trusted local structures for communications and engagement activities, she argued, will result in increased institutional capacity for social science evidence sharing and uptake.
While sharing strategies to address ‘murky’ policy making processes, Professor Kiambati emphasised the central role of co-creation between researchers and policy makers. She also positioned knowledge valorisation as a policy objective, creating practical value for the entire society.
The principles of co-creation, capacity strengthening and knowledge continuity highlighted by Mr Cherkose and Professor Kiambati reflect principles that underpin the Collaborative’s model. The Collaborative is designed to connect institutions, strengthen scientific ecosystems and ensure evidence flows seamlessly across borders and disciplines. This is how Africa builds long-term resilience.
The open invitation and attendance from institutions across Africa aligned with the Collaborative’s vision of promoting partnerships and collaborative exchanges across the continent. During and after the event, the speakers received multiple requests to connect and move conversations forward, demonstrating the potential of their work in contributing to a more robust research ecosystem across the continent.
Their shared recommendation, embedding social science expertise in health systems before crises hit, underscored a growing recognition across the continent that pandemic preparedness must be as much about people as pathogens.
Teklu Cherkose is a social science researcher and PhD fellow at the Armauer Hansen Research Institute in Ethiopia under DELTAS Africa II ALC consortium. His work investigates how health interventions can be effectively integrated into communities. Using a mixed methods approach, he examines the interplay of actors, interventions, and context by integrating patient, community, and stakeholder perspectives, ultimately aiming to shape effective and sustainable health policies. Mr Cherkose is also a grantee of the Africa Pandemic Sciences Collaborative’s Individual Policy Exchange Program (iPEP).
Professor Kellen Kiambati is a social scientist from Kenya, specialising in pandemic response and community engagement. Her work turns research findings into practical action. Prof Kellen is an Associate Professor at Karatina University and an SFA Foundation grantee under the Possible Africa initiative.
