By Leonard Masauli

Lilongwe, May 24, Mana: Government has been advised to using complex science to inform decisions and policies at all governance levels in the country.

The remarks have on the sidelines of a meeting at Capital Hotel in Lilongwe on Friday, aimed to build capacity to understand and use complex science in decision making in the country.

Speaking during the meeting, Head of Policy Unit at Malawi Wellcome Liverpool Programme, Dr Rhona Mijumbi said there are huge gaps in the utilization of science in decision making and policies because of low understanding of science research and hence making decisions which have benefitted from science without the science.

“We feel there are significant challenges when decision makers are interacting with complex science in the country, and they affect some decisions that would have been made and the interaction today will help to improve on certain decisions.

“For instance, if the government can identify within its cadres, people who can be trained and communicate using science and be able to support policy makers, teachers, chiefs among others, can help bring a difference in the way decisions are made and add value as we move towards agenda 2063,” she said.

Mijumbi said science is done not only to benefit researchers but to improve people’s health and their well-being, so that it helps to contribute to the socio-economic development of the country.

Deputy British High Commissioner and Development Director in Malawi, Olympia Wereko-Brobby said COVID-19 showed the importance of taking complex information and translating it to policymakers in a way that people could understand and hence the importance to use science in decision making.

“So, I think it's incredibly exciting. Malawi has a very strong, rich culture of research that we do more to work together with academics, policymakers and development partners to translate that into evidence-based policymaking.

“You will see more and more scientists going abroad and making names for themselves, but then also, more importantly, coming back here and making sure that their contribution to Malawi and its own development is noted,” she said.

A Medical Doctor in the Ministry of Health, Dr Collins Mitambo said there was huge gap between the researchers and the policy makers and hence what researchers produce mot of the times do not reach the policy makers.

“At times, policy makers look for research evidence for policy directions but they are very difficult to find. This is why through World Health Organization (WHO), we established a platform for interaction between a policy maker and a researcher so that policy makers can easily reach out for information they need from researchers,” he said.