Evidence-based policymaking when evidence is incomplete: The case of HIV programme integration

Evidence-Based Policy Making during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic: A Systematic Review

“…When the scientific evidence is incomplete, and when 25 Ultimately, COVID-19 falls into this category and will serve as an example for future countermeasures against emerging infectious diseases. 25 When the extent of infectious diseases is wide-spread and cannot be controlled locally (ie, middle and late stages of infectious disease pandemics), it is important to collect and analyze data obtained at various locations. This may involve extensive data that eliminates local factors such as race and socioeconomics to build high-quality evidence and support the practice of EBPM.…”

“…In recent years, the term "evidence-based policy making" (EBPM) has received increasing attention; 5,6 EBPM is established through systematic data collection on issues or topics, analysis of those collected data, and creation of evidence on which to base policy decisions. [5][6][7] In the medical field, "evidence-based medicine" (EBM) is widely accepted, and guidelines have been created for each disease to standardize the medical care provided. 8 On the contrary, there may not have been sufficient discussion of the steps involved in creating a policy for the medical region.…”

“…Policies related to infectious diseases should be developed based on appropriate and high-quality evidence as they affect public health. [5][6][7] On September 15, 2022, WHO announced that the end of the COVID-19 pandemic "is in sight." 9 In accordance with this announcement, the authors considered that a verification of the policies and responses regarding COVID-19 by researchers and stakeholders should be initiated.…”

Strengthening implementation guidelines for HIV service delivery: Considerations for future evidence generation and synthesis

“…A further challenge for synthesis was the limited reporting of contextual factors that influence the effectiveness of an implementation strategy—such as the historical and sociopolitical climate, social structures, organizational hierarchies, financing, governance, leadership, human resource capacity, and stigma [ 27 , 28 ]. Understanding how context interacts with intervention exposure and modulates implementation success can facilitate inference in highly varied implementation settings and help identify necessary adaptations for success under new contextual conditions [ 27 , 29 ].…”

Translating research into policy and action

“…In these situations, hybrid effectiveness implementation designs can shorten the translation timeline without sacrificing rigor or generalizability 29 . Several US and international initiatives, notably in HIV, have leveraged different scientific methods including implementation, community engagement, and systems science to inform actionable decisions on programs and policies when the evidence is incomplete 6,30 …”