Department of Health Management and Policy, Faculty of Health Sciences, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon.
Knowledge to Policy (K2P) Center, Faculty of Health Sciences, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon.
Health Res Policy Syst. 2020 Jun 3;18(1):58. doi: 10.1186/s12961-020-00576-y.
The COVID-19 pandemic presents the worst public health crisis in recent history. The response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been challenged by many factors, including scientific uncertainties, scarcity of relevant research, proliferation of misinformation and fake news, poor access to actionable evidence, time constraints, and weak collaborations among relevant stakeholders. Knowledge translation (KT) platforms, composed of organisations, initiatives and networks supporting evidence-informed policy-making, can play an important role in providing relevant and timely evidence to inform pandemic responses and bridge the gap between science, policy, practice and politics. In this Commentary, we highlight the emerging roles of KT platforms in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. We also reflect on the lessons learned from the efforts of a KT platform in a middle-income country to inform decision-making and practice during the COVID-19 pandemic. The lessons learned can be integrated into strengthening the role, structures and mandates of KT platforms as hubs for trustworthy evidence that can inform policies and practice during public health crises and in promoting their integration and institutionalisation within the policy-making processes.
新冠疫情大流行是近年来最严重的公共卫生危机。应对新冠疫情受到诸多因素的挑战，包括科学不确定性、相关研究匮乏、错误信息和假新闻泛滥、获取可行证据受限、时间紧迫以及相关利益攸关方之间合作薄弱。知识转化（KT）平台由支持循证决策的组织、倡议和网络组成，在提供相关及时证据以支持疫情应对并弥合科学、政策、实践和政治之间的差距方面，可以发挥重要作用。在本文述评中，我们结合新冠疫情，强调了 KT 平台的新兴作用。我们还反思了一个中等收入国家 KT 平台在新冠疫情期间为辅助决策和实践提供信息的努力中汲取的经验教训。这些经验教训可以融入到加强 KT 平台的作用、结构和任务中，将其作为可靠证据的中心，为公共卫生危机期间的政策和实践提供信息，并促进其在决策过程中的整合和制度化。
