The West African Health Organisation (WAHO) successfully held a Sub-regional Workshop to relaunch the West African Health Documentation and Information Network (ROADIS) from 26 to 28 January 2026 in Dakar, Senegal, marking a major step towards strengthening cooperation and improving health information management across the ECOWAS region.
The workshop brought together archivists, librarians, health information specialists and resource persons from ECOWAS Member States, including Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Cabo Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal and Sierra Leone.
Created in 2005 under the leadership of WAHO, ROADIS aims to improve the collection, access, sharing and use of health documentation and information, thereby supporting research, evidence-based decision-making and regional health policies.
The three-day workshop achieved major focused on the revitalisation and modernisation of ROADIS, with participants achieving the following key results:
- Review and adoption of the revised Statutes and Internal Regulations of the network;
- Establishment of a new Executive Board to coordinate ROADIS activities at sub-regional level;
- Definition of an internal and external communication strategy, including the modernisation of the ROADIS website and development of an institutional brochure;
- Identification of priority training needs for archivists and librarians, particularly in records management, digital documentation, information security, copyright and database structuring;
- Development of a two-year action plan (2026–2027) to guide the network’s activities.
Participants also discussed issues related to regional health surveillance and the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in library and documentation practices, including a live demonstration of Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) technology.
At the end of the workshop, a new ROADIS Executive Board was installed. The Board will lead the coordination of activities, promote active membership and strengthen partnerships at national and regional levels.
