Table 2 Recommendations and specific actions for each cross-cutting theme

1. Leadership and political will: Support the MoH as a leader in setting a culture and example of evidence uptake in policy-making

• The MoH should continue to expand its leadership capacity and recognise itself as a critical leader and example setter for evidence use for the country

• Donors can work to build institutional capacity by investing in research that supports national agendas and working in partnership with government

• The MoH can build institutions for conducting and using research by creating roles in research, providing opportunities to advance to senior positions in research and recruiting more competent senior officials

• The MoH should ensure a consistent and active presence with other agencies or research units (thematic/technical working groups, DPs, academics, etc.) to strengthen institutions for research uptake in policy debates

• MoH leaders should prioritise professional development of CSs in order to improve incentives and thus capacity for research

• Academic institutions and leaders can learn from each other and can champion evidence uptake

• Academic institutions can ensure that the research, especially HPSR they generate, is demand driven and responds to the needs of national MoH and/or global public health priorities

2. Incentives and resources: Set targets for support for HPSR and other evidence generation and use, including domestic resources

• The MoH can review incentive structures and identify options to increase the retention of skilled CSs

• National governments can dedicate a higher proportion of budget to health, science and research-related sectors

• DPs can provide resources to test innovations and pilot test solutions but must feed the findings and experience back into national platforms and agendas in a supportive fashion

3. Infrastructure and access to data: Strengthen access to evidence, including routine data health information management systems and repositories of reports and other scholarly publications

• The MoH should continue to invest in data-sharing systems, including across sectors and efforts to digitise existing evidence

• DPs should participate in national repositories and help facilitate the sharing of evidence that can inform policy

4. Designated structures and processes: Develop, maintain and utilise national research agendas and institutionalised units or centres whose focus is on evidence generation and use

• The MoH should lead a process to articulate a national research agenda that includes the voices of multiple stakeholders

• The MoH can ensure that there is a focused entity that is functional and resourced and also responsible for supporting the implementation of that national agenda

• Academic institutions should engage across the continuum of evidence use from problem identification to policy development/reform

• DPs can work with and also provide support to the units or centres that are tasked with focusing on evidence generation and use

5. Interaction and relationships: CSs and researchers are key stakeholders to ensure that there is interactions and relationships. This is true on multiple levels, including sub-nationally, nationally and internationally

• The MoH can engage CSs at multiple levels in evidence-need identification, generation and use, which includes allocating time and resources to support them

• Academic institutions should participate in structures set by the MoH to facilitate relationships and collaboration with CSs

6. Capacity strengthening and engagement: Continue to invest in CSs and other stakeholders through ongoing skill-building and engagement activities

• The MoH and other appropriate government and autonomous agencies should invest in providing formal and sufficient pathways for CS or aspiring health professionals to train in the skills needed to access data, conduct research, synthesise and disseminate findings to policy, programme managers and other stakeholders

• The MoH should involve CSs in policy-related activities, such as applying research to write briefs, in order to motivate CSs to pursue research and strengthen institutions for research application and uptake processes