The Challenge
For countries with low health systems and policy research (HPSR) capacity and a weak link to decision-makers, it is difficult to develop evidence that will be used to inform policy. In Asia, there exists experienced HPSR institutions (HPSRIs) in UMICs and less experienced in LMICs countries. Although these HPSRIs have been established to translate evidence to policy, a common challenge across the institutes is their difficulty in improving the skills of their staff to effectively fulfill their mandate and determining how to prioritize research studies when they’re at low capacity.