Second Annual CEBHA Meeting and Symposium

The Second Annual Meeting and Symposium about ‘Evidence in Africa’ was arranged by the ‘Collaboration for Evidence Based Healthcare in Africa’ (CEBHA) in Kigali, Rwanda on 11th and 12th December, 2012. The meeting was hosted by the National University of Rwanda and the Ministry of Health, Rwanda, and was funded by the Royal Tropical Institute. There were representatives from eight countries and an impressive turnout of 100 people at the Symposium, mostly doctors, but also nurses, policy makers, representatives from NGOs and high level government officials.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  Participants at the EBM workshop at the School of Public Health, Rwanda.
 
The Director of the Ministry of Health in his opening speech expressed the Minister’s commitment to deliver cost effective, evidence based health services for all. Examples were given about the importance of smart investments to achieve better outcomes for priority health issues. “By smart investments we can save millions of lives in Africa”, he said.
 
After the Symposium a three day workshop about Evidence Based Healthcare was held for doctors and allied health professionals at the School of Public Health, National University of Rwanda. More than 30 participated and learned the basics of how to practice evidence based healthcare. They all engaged in discussions about searching, critical appraisal and implementation of evidence into practice. The teaching methods were problem based and participatory – new to many. The evaluation of the workshop was overwhelmingly positive, and all participants found the workshop very useful for their own clinical practice.
 
  Searching for Evidence
 
For 2013 more workshops are planned in Tanzania, Burundi, Malawi and Zimbabwe.