Cameroon Launches New Push for Evidence-Based Health Policy

Cameroon formally launched its 2026-2030 National Strategic Plan for Health Research (PSNRS) and the health sector’s Digital Documentation Center (CDNSS) in Yaoundé on Sept. 1, 2026. Both initiatives are aimed at making scientific knowledge a practical tool for health policymaking and healthcare delivery.

Health research has long been seen largely as an academic endeavor, producing studies and publications that do not always feed directly into public policy. The 2026-2030 PSNRS is intended to help change that dynamic. With an estimated five-year budget of CFAF 2.533 billion, the new plan seeks to make research more responsive to the needs of the health system.

“Through the 2026-2030 PSNRS, the government intends to make research an effective tool for decision-making and improving healthcare delivery. The issue is no longer simply to produce knowledge, but to ensure that it informs the design and implementation of public policy,” the Public Health Ministry said.

The plan focuses in particular on research governance and ethics, the use of evidence in decision-making, the development of a stronger research culture within the health system and securing sustainable funding.

One of the PSNRS’s main innovations is an effort to make health research more responsive to conditions on the ground. Research, officials say, should no longer be designed only within central government departments, universities or specialized institutes. It should also reflect conditions and needs in regions, health districts, health facilities and communities.

Regional disparities

Health districts are therefore expected to become key sites for research and innovation. Local conditions could play a greater role in shaping research priorities, including barriers to healthcare access, regional disparities, the effectiveness of interventions, population behavior and the adaptation of innovations to different local conditions. This approach could help ensure that health policies better reflect conditions faced by local communities.

Alongside the PSNRS, the government also officially launched the CDNSS, available at cdnss-minsante.cm, a virtual library designed to centralize and provide access to documents and research produced across the health sector. Reports, studies, technical documents, scientific research and other materials produced within Cameroon’s health system will gradually be collected, organized, archived and made accessible through the platform.

The objective is to make it easier for health professionals, researchers, students, health administrators and decision-makers to access the information they need without having to search across different departments or institutions. The CDNSS is therefore intended to serve both as an institutional archive and as a platform for sharing knowledge. “This virtual library is intended to address the need to better organize and make accessible the many documentary resources produced by Cameroon’s health system,” the ministry said.

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