African governments and other decision-makers need evidence before they will be willing to fund and implement radical policies to make IPECP the norm. They need evidence that IPECP improve health outcomes and patient safety, reduce cost and the burden on human resources for health, and that it strengthens systems for health.

In 2019, at the Second IPECP for Africa Conference (Nairobi) and the 3^rd AFREhealth Symposium (Lagos) there were great enthusiasm to embark on a longitudinal, multi-country study to evaluate the impact on IPECP.

The next steps to get this project off the ground are to:

1. Write a short 5-pager describing the project
2. Obtain seeding money to employ a seasoned researcher for a period of 4 months to write the protocol and a grant application
3. Gather an interdisciplinary research team and principal investigator to lead the way in close collaboration with WHO AFRO.