Global Health Policy Lab (GHPL) is a non-profit initiative focused on strengthening the health policymaking ecosystem by developing transparent, evidence-informed, innovative, and data-driven AI-tools and policy insights.
Launched in 2024, GHPL is a joint initiative between the Charité Center for Global Health Berlin, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, the Virchow Foundation, and a growing network of global partners.
In 2025, as GHPL began preparing its first Health Policy Trend Report, they required a robust and credible understanding of how policymakers across the world access and use health policy evidence.
To ensure the report was grounded in the lived realities of policymakers and to strengthen GHPL’s position as a trusted voice in global health policymaking, GHPL commissioned Nature Research Intelligence (NRI) in May 2025 to conduct a global survey exploring the challenges and opportunities facing health policymaker.
NRI worked closely with GHPL to co-design a survey featuring 15 quantitative and open-ended questions, striking the right balance between structured metrics and deeper qualitative insights. NRI’s methodology centred on shaping a survey that uncovered barriers, opportunities, and solutions to evidence‑based policymaking.
In collaboration with GHPL, NRI also identified and targeted the most relevant stakeholder groups across regions to ensure responses were representative and meaningful. The survey launched in early July and remained open through the end of August 2025, capturing perspectives from 49 countries across a broad spectrum of roles within the health policy ecosystem.
The survey captured perspectives from 49 countries.
Once the survey closed, NRI applied rigorous analytical methods to rapidly synthesise the responses gathered, delivering an internal insights report to GHPL in September 2025.
Insights from this NRI-led global survey formed the analytical backbone of this inaugural Health Policy Trend Report.
The survey findings provided the foundation for much of the report’s analysis, surfacing not only the key challenges but also practical solutions and enablers to strengthen evidence-informed policymaking globally.
In the report the core survey findings are complemented by research insights through the African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC) and case studies from members of the UNITE Parliamentarians Network for Global Health (UNITE).
The collaboration between NRI and GHPL reinforced NRI’s value as a strategic research intelligence partner for global health initiatives.
Across regions and settings, the survey findings identified 3 recurring challenges facing health policymaking:
See the full report
Our engagement with the NRI team was very productive and positive – outstanding professionalism combined with strong communication resulting in timely tangible high-quality outputs.
Dr. Branwen Hennig Executive DirectorGlobal Health Policy Lab
Unlock the strategic insight you need to guide investment, accelerate innovation, and understand your competitive research landscape.
Learn More