Embedding operational research into national disease control programme: lessons from 10 years of experience in Indonesia

Abstract

There is growing recognition that operational research (OR) should be embedded into national disease control programmes. However, much of the current OR capacity building schemes are still predominantly driven by international agencies with limited integration into national disease control programmes. We demonstrated that it is possible to achieve a more sustainable capacity building effort across the country by establishing an OR group within the national tuberculosis (TB) control programme in Indonesia. Key challenges identified include long-term financial support, limited number of scientific publications, and difficulties in documenting impact on programmatic performance. External evaluation has expressed concerns in regard to utilisation of OR in policy making. Efforts to address this concern have been introduced recently and led to indications of increased utilisation of research evidence in policy making by the national TB control programme. Embedding OR in national disease control programmes is key in establishing an evidence-based disease control programme.

• operational research
• tuberculosis
• disease control
• policy
• capacity building

Acknowledgements

We thank all members of the Tuberculosis Operational Research Group (TORG) for the discussions leading to the development of this manuscript. We also thank the National TB Control Programme for providing access to necessary information and supporting the discussions. Lastly, we acknowledge the support of USAID, presently through TBCARE, for enabling us to organise the operational research workshops.

Conflict of interest and funding

YM, AP, BW, PR, and BA are members of the Tuberculosis Operational Research Group (TORG). EWT provides technical assistance to TORG through KNCV Tuberculosis Foundation. YM is supported by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation through the Fellowship for Experienced Researchers.