Voices of decision makers on evidence-based policy: A case of evolving TB/HIV co-infection policy in India

ABSTRACT

This study explores decision makers’ perspectives on evidence-based policy (EBP) development using the case of TB/HIV co-infection in India. Twelve in-depth interviews were conducted with purposively selected key national and international policy decision makers in India. Verbatim transcripts were processed and analysed thematically using QSR (NUD*IST 6). The decision makers were unequivocal in recognizing the TB/HIV co-infection as an important public health issue in India and stated the problem to be different than Africa. The need of having a “third programme” for co-infection was not felt. According to them, the public health management of this co-infection must be within the realm of these two programmes. The study also emphasized on decision makers’ perspectives on evidence and the process of utilization of evidence for decision-making for co-infection. Study findings showed global evidence was not always accepted by the decision makers and study shows several examples of decision makers demanding local evidence for policy decisions. Decision makers did make interim policies based on global evidence but most of the time their mandate was to get local evidence. Thus, operations research/implementation science especially multi-centric studies emerge as important strategy for EBP development. Researcher–policy maker interface was a gap where role of researcher as aggressive communicator of research findings was expected.

KEYWORDS:

• TB/HIV co-infection translation
• evidence-based policy
• India

Acknowledgements

We sincerely thank the policy and key decision makers who had participated and shared perspectives for the study. We would like to thank ICMR, National AIDS Research Institute (NARI) for facilitating the study. And, we also like to acknowledge the support of University of Pune.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributors

Srikanth Reddy, currently a Postdoctoral Researcher of the global health programme at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva, Switzerland.

Seema Sahay is Scientist F at National AIDS Research Institute (NARI, ICMR), Pune, (India). She currently heads the Social and Behavioral Research Division at NARI.

ORCID

Seema Sahay http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6064-827X

Additional information

Funding

We acknowledge the support of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and Pune University. First author was supported by an ICMR fellowship Ref. 3/1/3/JRF-2008/HRD – 74 (61071) and completed his doctoral work from NARI under Pune University.