Sales Reneepearl Kim, Oraño Joseph, Estanislao Rafael Deo, Ballesteros Alfredo Jose, Gomez Ma Ida Faye
Alliance for Improving Health Outcomes, Veria 1 Building, 62 West Avenue, West Triangle, 1104, Quezon City, Philippines.
Health Res Policy Syst. 2021 Apr 29;19(1):70. doi: 10.1186/s12961-021-00723-z.
Viral pandemics have had catastrophic consequences on population health and economies. The Philippine government intends to establish the Virology Institute of the Philippines, one of the key areas of which will be virology research. This project aimed to develop the institute's research agenda across the fields of human, plant, and animal virology.
Key considerations for the prioritization methodology were (1) the imminent establishment of the Virology Institute of the Philippines, (2) mobility restrictions caused by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, (3) the timeline to develop the research agenda, and (4) the need to separate the research agenda for the three fields of human, plant, and animal virology. The process was fully conducted online in four steps: stakeholder identification, soliciting research priorities, generating initial research priorities, and final prioritization consultations conducted on Zoom Pro.
Twenty-eight participants attended three online consultations between 21 and 27 July 2020 through Zoom Pro. Participants selected the research prioritization criteria and its weights, and used these to evaluate the research priorities. The final research agenda covers topics in epidemiology, diagnostics, surveillance, biosafety, and genomics.
This initiative resulted in the first research agenda for the Virology Institute of the Philippines across the three fields of human, plant, and animal virology. An expert-driven process which places a premium on consensus-building facilitated through online platforms was the most feasible approach to develop the research agenda. This process resulted in an agenda aligned with the mandates of national research councils but leaves gaps on areas such as emerging infectious diseases. Pre-COVID-19 literature expressed apprehensions on the online medium that weakens social ties necessary for consensus. Our experience with changing the mode of consensus-building shows that users will continually adapt to technology. Online tools are currently able to address the limitations of the virtual space.
病毒性大流行对人口健康和经济造成了灾难性后果。菲律宾政府打算设立菲律宾病毒学研究所，其关键领域之一将是病毒学研究。本项目旨在制定该研究所涵盖人类、植物和动物病毒学领域的研究议程。
确定优先次序方法的关键考虑因素包括：（1）菲律宾病毒学研究所即将成立；（2）2019年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行导致的行动限制；（3）制定研究议程的时间安排；（4）需要将人类、植物和动物病毒学这三个领域的研究议程分开。该过程完全在线分四个步骤进行：确定利益相关者、征求研究重点、生成初步研究重点以及在Zoom Pro上进行最终优先次序磋商。
28名参与者通过Zoom Pro参加了2020年7月21日至27日期间的三次在线磋商。参与者选择了研究优先次序标准及其权重，并以此评估研究重点。最终的研究议程涵盖流行病学、诊断学、监测、生物安全和基因组学等主题。
该倡议产生了菲律宾病毒学研究所涵盖人类、植物和动物病毒学三个领域的首个研究议程。一个由专家推动、高度重视通过在线平台促成共识的过程是制定研究议程最可行的方法。这一过程产生了一个与国家研究委员会任务相符的议程，但在新兴传染病等领域存在空白。COVID-19之前的文献对在线媒介表示担忧，认为它削弱了达成共识所需的社会联系。我们在改变共识达成模式方面的经验表明，用户将不断适应技术。在线工具目前能够解决虚拟空间的局限性问题。
