TB Modelling Group, Centre for the Mathematical Modelling of Infectious Diseases, and Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, TB Centre, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
Aurum Institute, Johannesburg, School of Public Health, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, Advancing Treatment and Care for TB/HIV, South African Medical Research Council, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Int J Tuberc Lung Dis. 2018 Jun 1;22(6):606-613. doi: 10.5588/ijtld.17.0485.
National Tuberculosis Programmes (NTPs) require specialist input to support the development of policy and practice informed by evidence, typically against tight deadlines.
To describe lessons learned from establishing a dedicated tuberculosis (TB) think tank to advise the South African NTP on TB policy.
A 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.
The 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.
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.
国家结核病规划（NTP）需要专业人员的投入，以支持制定基于证据的政策和实践，通常时间紧迫。
描述建立专门的结核病（TB）智库以向南非国家结核病规划提供有关 TB 政策建议的经验教训。
建立了一个国家结核病智库，为国家结核病规划提供支持，以支持循证政策。为包括会议、建模和定期电话在内的活动提供支持，与执行委员会和工作组下的更广泛的无偿专家顾问网络建立联系。干预评估使用桌面分析文件证据、访谈和直接观察。
结核病智库随着时间的推移不断发展，获得了三个关键角色：一个“机构”、一个“政策对话论坛”和一个“接口”。尽管热情很高，但激励 NTP 和外部专家参与证明是具有挑战性的。当与 NTP 决策的特定需求保持一致时，工作组的激励最为成功。尽管面临挑战，结核病智库还是为南非有史以来第一个结核病和人类免疫缺陷病毒（HIV）投资案例做出了贡献，并决定创建南非第一个专门用于结核病的隔离赠款。结核病智库还协助 NTP 制定战略，加速实现世界卫生组织目标。
与合作伙伴一起，结核病智库在支持循证决策方面取得了重大成功，并为南非的结核病增加了资金。确定如何增加 NTP 工作人员和其他专家的参与度，并明确智库的范围，可以促进更大的影响。可以在其他环境中复制智库倡议，以支持循证政策制定。
