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Table 3 The status of use of evidence in health policy-making in Iran

From: Policy options for strengthening evidence-informed health policy-making in Iran: overall SASHA project findings

Identifying the problem

Putting on the agenda: In two of 14 programmes, the problem is raised through the media (as a reflection of the demands of the people)

Reviewing the causes: The causes of the problem were investigated in one third of the programmes by using a specific study

Recognizing solutions

A range of actions were taken from 14 programmes:

- Preliminary study to evaluate effectiveness, economic evaluation, searching resources, and application of WHO recommendations and expert opinion: 1

- Study of economic evaluation and expert opinion: 1

- Search for resources and application of WHO recommendations: 1

- Application of WHO recommendations: 5

- Search for resources and opinions of experts: 3

Contextualizing solutions

Identify the required change scope: In one-third of the cases, a specific study was conducted for adaptation to local conditions. In one-third of the programmes, either the opinion of experts or policy-makers' previous experiences was used

Identify the limits of change: Took place in 1/12th of the programmes to identify the permissible limits of change for localization

Budget impact estimation: About one-sixth of the cost estimates were performed at the time of programme design

Pilot and modification based on it: Done in one-fifth of the programmes

Stakeholders' opinion: Half of the programmes used the opinions of stakeholders (except programme designers)

Implementation solutions

The study of the obstacles and facilitators of implementing the solution was done in four of the 14 programmes at the time of design and in two of the 14 programmes at the time of programme implementation

None of the programmes at the time of design had prepared a comprehensive protocol for monitoring and evaluation. In nine of the 14 programmes, this was done after the programme's implementation

Monitoring implementation and evaluating impacts