ArticleThe international journal of tuberculosis and lung disease : the official journal of the International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease2018
Evidence-informed policy making at country level: lessons learned from the South African Tuberculosis Think Tank.
Article in The international journal of tuberculosis and lung disease : the official journal of the International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 29 citations in OpenAlex.
- Individual and institutional capacity-building for evidence-informed health policy-making in Iran: a mix of local and global evidence.Health research policy and systems · 2022Pooled it
- Multimorbidity: a core priority for learning health systems amidst vertical disease programme cuts.Health research policy and systems · 2026Article
- Feasibility, challenges, and solutions for implementing targeted universal tuberculosis testing: perceptions of healthcare professionals in South Africa.BMC health services research · 2026Article
- A formative evaluation of the TB Think Tank's role and influence on TB policy in South Africa.PLOS global public health · 2026Article
- Knowledge translation platforms: Broker, intermediary or more? A scoping review of definitions, functions and characteristics.Health research policy and systems · 2025Article
- Structural barriers to implementing recommended tuberculosis preventive treatment in primary care clinics in rural South Africa.Global public health · 2022Article
- Priority Activities in Child and Adolescent Tuberculosis to Close the Policy-Practice Gap in Low- and Middle-Income Countries.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Health system determinants of tuberculosis mortality in South Africa: a causal loop model.BMC health services research · 2021Article
- Towards TB elimination: how are macro-level factors perceived and addressed in policy initiatives in a high burden country?Globalization and health · 2021Article
- Informing Balanced Investment in Services and Health Systems: A Case Study of Priority Setting for Tuberculosis Interventions in South Africa.Value in health : the journal of the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research · 2020Article
- Impact of capacity building interventions on individual and organizational competency for HPSR in endemic disease control in Nigeria: a qualitative study.Implementation science : IS · 2020Article
- Applied mathematical modelling to inform national malaria policies, strategies and operations in Tanzania.Malaria journal · 2020Article
- Estimating the Impact of Tuberculosis Case Detection in Constrained Health Systems: An Example of Case-Finding in South Africa.American journal of epidemiology · 2019Article
- Improving the quality of modelling evidence used for tuberculosis policy evaluation.The international journal of tuberculosis and lung disease : the official journal of the International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease · 2019Article
- Application of provincial data in mathematical modelling to inform sub-national tuberculosis program decision-making in South Africa.PloS one · 2019Article
- TB Control in Humans and Animals in South Africa: A Perspective on Problems and Successes.Frontiers in veterinary science · 2018Article
- Empirical estimation of resource constraints for use in model-based economic evaluation: an example of TB services in South Africa.Cost effectiveness and resource allocation : C/E · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
13 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundNational Tuberculosis Programmes (NTPs) require specialist input to support the development of policy and practice informed by evidence, typically against tight deadlines.
objectiveTo describe lessons learned from establishing a dedicated tuberculosis (TB) think tank to advise the South African NTP on TB policy. INTERVENTION AND EVALUATION
methodsA national TB think tank was established to advise the NTP in support of evidence-informed policy. Support was provided for activities, including meetings, modelling and regular telephone calls, with a wider network of unpaid expert advisers under an executive committee and working groups. Intervention evaluation used desktop analysis of documentary evidence, interviews and direct observation.
resultsThe TB Think Tank evolved over time to acquire three key roles: an 'institution', a 'policy dialogue forum' and an 'interface'. Although enthusiasm was high, motivating participation among the NTP and external experts proved challenging. Motivation of working groups was most successful when aligned to a specific need for NTP decision making. Despite challenges, the TB Think Tank contributed to South Africa's first ever TB and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) investment case, and the decision to create South Africa's first ever ring-fenced grant for TB. The TB Think Tank also assisted the NTP in formulating strategy to accelerate progress towards reaching World Health Organization targets. DISCUSSION: With partners, the TB Think Tank achieved major successes in supporting evidence-informed decision making, and garnered increased funding for TB in South Africa. Identifying ways to increase the involvement of NTP staff and other experts, and keeping the scope of the Think Tank well defined, could facilitate greater impact. Think tank initiatives could be replicated in other settings to support evidence-informed policy making.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.